Galatians Bible Study Handout

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Galatians
Pauls letter to the
Participants Guide
Living in-line with the truth of the gospel

Galatians 2:14
Timothy Keller | Redeemer Presbyterian Church | 2010
Copyright Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church 2010.

All rights reserved. In compliance with copyright restrictions, no portion of these materials
may be reproduced in any form or stored on any system without the permission of
Redeemer Presbyterian Church 271 Madison Ave., Suite 1600 New York, NY 10016.
How to use this material

This study of Galatians is organized into thirteen units. Each unit consists of
two sections: a Bible study and a Reflection or Exercise section. The first
section studies a portion of Galatians while the second section takes a concept
from the passage and helps you to get a better understanding of it (Reflection)
and/or to apply it practically to your life (Exercise).
There are three ways to use this material to grow in Christ. I will list the ways
in ascending order of helpfulness.
An individual could use this workbook profitably by first buying a popular level
commentary. I suggest John R. W. Stotts The Message of Galatians from The

Bible Speaks Today Series (Downers Grove, Ill.: InterVarsity Press, 1968). Then,
reading both the Galatians workbook material and the commentary, you could
work through the study yourself.
An informal mini-group of two or three people could decide to do this together.
In this case you should buy the Stott commentary and work through the
workbook, meeting periodically to share the most important things you have
been learning. This is much better than the first approach because it injects a
level of accountability and community to your study.
A home fellowship group with an equipped leader is by far the best context for
the use of this workbook. Gospel life change happens best in a community with
a balance of worship, friendship, and study. The concepts in this material are
life-changing but require a great deal of reflection to grasp. This happens more
readily in a small group community that meets regularly. If you want to truly
understand and grow through the material in this workbook, get thee into a
home fellowship group!
Table of contents
Study 1
Reading and Reflection: Luthers Preface to Galatians
4
9
Study 2
Study 3
Study 4
Study 5
Study 6
Study 7
Study 8
Study 9
Study 10
Study 11
Study 12
114
Gospel Relationships; Galatians 5:26-6:5

Exercise: Gospel Relationships
107
112
Gospel Character; Galatians 5:16-25

Exercise: Fruit of the Spirit
98
104
Gospel Freedom; Galatians 5:1-15

Exercise: Son or Slave?
91
95
Grace to the Barren; Galatians 4:21-31

Exercise: Gospel Forgiveness
78
88
Gospel-centered Ministry; Galatians 4:8-20

Exercise: Idols of the Heart
65
75
Children of God; Galatians 3:26-4:7

Reading and Reflection: Adoption in Christ
52
62
The Gospel and the Law; Galatians 3:15-25

Exercise: Deeds, Words, and Heart
43
49
The Gospel and Faith; Galatians 3:1-14

Reading and Reflection: Grace and Growth
38
41
Living the Gospel; Galatians 2:11-21

Exercise: In-Line with the Gospel
30
36
Unity in the Gospel; Galatians 2:1-10

Reading and Reflection: The Two Prodigals
18
26
A Gospel-Changed Life; Galatians 1:10-24

Exercise: Testimony
11
15
The Uniqueness of the Gospel ; Galatians 1:1-9
Study 13
Sowing and Reaping; Galatians 6:6-18

Reading and Reflection: Luther Revisited
Copyright Timothy Keller, and Redeemer Presbyterian Church 2010
notes
INTRODUCTION TO GALATIANS
HISTORICAL SETTING OF THE LETTER TO THE GALATIANS

The apostle Paul was a church-planting missionary. After he planted a church
and left a region, he continued to supervise new congregations through his
letters. One of these letters is this epistle to the Christian churches in the
Galatia region of Asia Minor. Most scholars agree that this letter was written
by Paul around 50 A. D. (only fifteen to twenty years after the death of Christ).
Recognizing the following three things from the historical setting will help us
understand this epistle.
This letter addresses a social and racial division in the churches of

Galatia. The first Christians in Jerusalem were Jewish, but as the gospel
spread out from that center, increasing numbers of Gentiles began to
receive Christ. However, a group of teachers in Galatia were now
insisting that Gentile Christians had to practice the same Mosaic
ceremonial customs that the Jewish Christians did. They taught that
Gentiles had to observe the Jewish dietary laws and be circumcised
for full acceptance and to be completely pleasing to God.
Although this specific controversy may seem remote to us today, Paul

addressed it with an abiding, all-important truth. He taught that the
cultural divisions and disunity in the Galatian churches were due to
confusion about the nature of the gospel. By insisting on Christ-plusanything-else as a requirement for full acceptance by God, these
teachers were presenting an entirely different way of relating to God (a
different gospel, 1:6) from the one Paul had given them (the gospel
I preached, 1:8). It was this different gospel that was creating the
cultural division and strife. Paul forcefully and unapologetically fought
the different gospel because to lose ones grip on the true gospel
was to desert and lose Christ himself (1:6). Therefore, everything was
at stake in this debate.
The most obvious fact about the historical setting is often the most
overlooked. In the letter to the Galatians, Paul expounds in detail what
the gospel is and how it works. But the intended readers of this gospel
exposition are all professing Christians. It is not simply non-Christians
but believers who continually re-learn and re-apply the gospel to their
lives.
THE ABIDING IMPORTANCE OF THE GOSPEL

It is very common in Christian circles to assume that the gospel is something
just for non-Christians. We presume that the gospel is a set of basic ABC
doctrines that Christians do not need to hear or study once they are converted.
Rather, they should move beyond the gospel to more advanced doctrines.
But Galatians great declaration of the gospel of grace was written to believers
who did not see its implications for life issues confronting them. Paul resolves
Introduction to Galatians
INTRODUCTION TO GALATIANS
the disunity and racial exclusivity not with a simple exhortation to be better
Christians but by calling them to live out the implications of the gospel. So
Christians need the gospel as much as non-Christians do. Their problems come
because they tend to lose and forget the gospel. They make progress only as
they continually grasp and apply the gospel in deeper ways.
The gospel shows us that our spiritual problem is not only in failing to obey
God, but also in relying on our obedience to make us fully acceptable to God,
ourselves, and others. Every kind of character flaw comes from this natural
impulse to be our own savior through our performance and achievement. On
the one hand, proud and disdainful personalities come from basing our identity
on our performance (and thinking we are succeeding). On the other hand,
discouraged and self-loathing personalities also come from basing our identity
on our performance (and thinking we are failing).
So belief in the gospel is not just the way to enter the kingdom of God. It is
also the way to address every obstacle and to grow in every aspect. The gospel
is not just the ABCs but the A-to-Z of the Christian life. The gospel is the
way that anything is renewed and transformed by Christwhether it is a heart,
a relationship, a church, or a community. All our problems come from a lack of
orientation to the gospel. Put positively, the gospel transforms our hearts, our
thinking, and our approach to absolutely everything.
The gospel of justifying faith means that, while Christians are in themselves still
sinful and sinning, yet in Christ they are accepted and righteous in Gods sight.
So we can say that we are more wicked than we ever dared believe, but more
loved and accepted in Christ than we ever dared hopeat the very same time.
This creates a radical new dynamic for personal growth. It means that the more
you see your own flaws and sins, the more precious, electrifying, and amazing
Gods grace appears to you. At the same time, the more aware you are of Gods
grace and acceptance in Christ, the more able you are to drop your denials and
self-defenses and admit the character and true dimensions of your sin.
This creates a radical new dynamic for discipline and obedience. First, the
knowledge of our acceptance in Christ makes it easier to admit we are flawed
(because we know we wont be rejected if we confess the true depths of our
sinfulness). Second, it makes the law of God a thing of beauty instead of a
burden. We can use it to delight and imitate the One who has saved us, rather
than to get his attention or procure his favor. We now run the race for the joy
that is set before us rather than for the fear that comes behind us.
What was most helpful to you in this brief background/overview? Why?
notes
Galatians
The Uniqueness of the Gospel

Study 1 | Galatians 1:1-9
In most of his letters to churches, Paul follows his salutation with a paragraph of
thanksgiving and appreciation for the lives of the people. But news has reached
him about the church in Galatia that has troubled him deeply. His emotions
almost immediately express themselves.
READ GALATIANS 1:1-9

1. Describe Pauls mood or frame of mind when he wrote this. What caused this
attitude? Does it seem justified?
2. Paul calls himself an apostle. What can you learn from verses 1-9 about what
an apostle is or does?
3. Paul offers us an outline of the gospel in the early verses. No outline can be
complete, but are the parts of this one?
notes
THE UNIQUENESS OF THE GOSPEL
4. According to verses 6-7, any change to the gospel makes it null and void.
Why?
5. How do people add to the gospel today in ways that diminish its power?
6. What is Pauls attitude toward those who distort the gospel (vv. 8-9)? How can
we insure that the gospel we believe is true?
Study 1 | The Uniqueness of the Gospel
THE UNIQUENESS OF THE GOSPEL
notes
7. Write the gospel in your own words, to the best of your current understanding.
Share and discuss. Later, return to this answer and compare it with your
understanding at the end of the course.
Martin Luthers
Preface to Galatians
Study 1
Reading and Reflection
(Abridgment and paraphrase by Timothy Keller)
Read and mark
! for something that helped you

? for something that raised a question
1. The most important thing in the world
The one doctrine that I have supremely in my heart is that of faith in Christ,
from whom, through whom, and unto whom all my theological thinking flows
back and forth day and night. This rock, which we call the doctrine of
justification through faith, was shaken by Satan in Paradise when he persuaded
our first parents that they might by their own wisdom and power become like
God. Ever since then the whole world has invented innumerable religions and
ways through which, without the aid of Christ, to use their works to redeem
themselves from evils and sins.
When Paul discusses the biblical doctrine of justification by faith, he explains
that there are several kinds of righteousness. First, there is political or civil
righteousness the nations public lawswhich magistrates and lawyers may
defend and teach. Second, there is cultural righteousnessthe standards of our
family and social grouping or classwhich parents and schools may teach.
Third, there is ethical righteousnessthe Ten Commandments and law of
Godwhich the church may teach but only in light of Christian righteousness.
So all these may be received without danger, as long as we attribute to them
no power to satisfy for sin, to please God, or to deserve grace . . . . These
kinds of righteousness are gifts of God, like all good things we enjoy . . . .
Yet there is another righteousness, far above the others, which Paul calls the
righteousness of faithChristian righteousness. God imputes it to us apart
from our works. In other words, it is passive righteousness, as the others are
active. For we do nothing for it and we give nothing for it. We only receive it.
2. The need for Christian righteousness
This passive righteousness is a mystery the world cannot understand.

Indeed, Christians never completely understand it themselves, and thus do
not take advantage of it when they are troubled and tempted. So we have to
constantly teach it, repeat it, and work it out in practice. Anyone who does not
understand this righteousness or cherish it in the heart and conscience will
continually be buffeted by fears and depression. Nothing gives peace like this
passive righteousness.
Human beings by nature, when they get near either danger or death itself, will
of necessity examine their own worthiness. We defend ourselves before all
threats by recounting our good deeds and moral efforts. But then the
Study 1 | Reading and Reflection
MARTIN LUTHERS PREFACE TO GALATIANS
notes
remembrance of sins and flaws inevitably comes to mind and this tears us
apart. We think, How many errors and sins and wrongs I have done! Please
God, let me live so I can fix and amend things. We become obsessed with our
active righteousness and are terrified by its imperfections. But the real evil is
that we trust our own power to be righteous and will not lift up our eyes to see
what Christ has done for us. . . . So the troubled conscience has no cure for its
desperation and feeling of unworthiness unless it takes hold of the forgiveness
of sins by grace, offered free of charge in Jesus Christ, which is this passive or
Christian righteousness. . . . If I tried to fulfill the law myself, I could not trust in
what I had accomplished, neither could it stand up to the judgment of God. So
. . . I rest only upon the righteousness of Christ . . . which I do not produce but
receive; God the Father freely giving it to us through Jesus Christ.
3. Law and grace
It is an absolute and unique teaching in all the world, to teach people, through
Christ, to live as if there were no law or wrath or punishment. In a sense, they
do not exist any longer for the Christian, but only total grace and mercy for
Christs sake. Once you are in Christ, the law is the greatest guide for your life,
but until you have Christian righteousness, all the law can do is to show you
how sinful and condemned you are. In fact, to those outside of Christian
righteousness, the law needs to be expounded in all its force. Why? So that
people who think they have power to be righteous before God will be humbled
by the law and understand that they are sinners.
Therefore we must be careful to use the law appropriately. If we used the
law in order to be accepted by God through obedience, then Christian
righteousness becomes mixed up with earned/moral righteousness in our
minds. If we try to earn our righteousness by doing many good deeds, we
actually do nothing. We neither please God through our works-righteousness
nor do we honor the purpose for which the law was given. But if we first
receive Christian righteousness, then we can use the law, not for our salvation,
but for his honor and glory, and to lovingly show our gratitude.
So then, have we nothing to do to obtain this righteousness? No, nothing at all!
For this righteousness comes by doing nothing, hearing nothing, knowing
nothing, but rather in knowing and believing this onlythat Christ has gone to
the right hand of the Father, not to become our judge, but to become for us our
wisdom, our righteousness, our holiness, our salvation! Now God sees no sin
in us, for in this heavenly righteousness sin has no place. So now we may
certainly think, Although I still sin, I dont despair, because Christ lives, who is
both my righteousness and my eternal life. In that righteousness I have no sin,
no fear, no guilty conscience, no fear of death. I am indeed a sinner in this life
of mine and in my own righteousness, but I have another life, another
righteousness, above this life, which is in Christ, the Son of God, who knows
no sin or death, but is eternal righteousness and eternal life.
notes
4. Living the gospel
While we live here on earth, we will be accused, exercised with temptations,

oppressed with heaviness and sorrow, and bruised by the law with its demands
of active righteousness. Because of this, Paul sets out in this letter of Galatians
to teach us, to comfort us, and to keep us constantly aware of this Christian
righteousness. For if the truth of being justified by Christ alone (not by our
works) is lost, then all Christian truths are lost. There is no middle ground
between Christian righteousness and works-righteousness. There is no
alternative to Christian righteousness but works-righteousness: If you do not
build your confidence on the work of Christ, you must build your confidence on
your own work. On this truth and only on this truth the church is built and has
its being.
This distinction is easy to utter in words, but in use and experience it is very
hard. So I challenge you to exercise yourselves continually in these matters
through study, reading, meditation on the Word and prayer, so that in the time
of trial you will be able to both inform and comfort both your consciences and
others, to bring them from law to grace, from active/works-righteousness to
passive/Christs righteousness. In times of struggle, the Devil will seek to terrify
us by using against us our past record and the wrath and law of God. So if we
cannot see the differences between the two kinds of righteousness, and if we
do not take hold of Christ by faith, sitting at the right hand of God (Heb. 7:25)
and pleading our case as sinners to the Father, then we are under the law, not
under grace. Christ is no savior, but a lawgiver, and no longer our salvation, but
an eternal despair.
So learn to speak the gospel to your own heart. For example, when the law
creeps into your conscience, learn to be a cunning logician. Learn to use
arguments of the gospel against it. Say:
O law! You would climb up into the kingdom of my conscience, and there reign and
condemn me for sin, and would take from me the joy of my heart, which I have by
faith in Christ, and drive me to desperation, that I might be without hope. You have
overstepped your bounds. Know your place! You are a guide for my behavior, but
you are not Savior and Lord of my heart. For I am baptized, and through the gospel I
am called to receive righteousness and eternal life. . . . So trouble me not! For I
will not allow you, so intolerable a tyrant and tormentor, to reign in my heart and
consciencefor they are the seat and temple of Christ the Son of God, who is the
King of righteousness and peace, and my most sweet Savior and Mediator. He shall
keep my conscience joyful and quiet in the sound and pure doctrine of the gospel,
through the knowledge of this passive and heavenly righteousness.
When we are assured of this righteousness, we not only cheerfully work well
in our vocations, but we submit to all manner of burdens and dangers in this
present life, because we know that this is the will of God, and that this
obedience pleases him. This then is the argument of this epistle, which Paul
expounds against the false teachers who had darkened the Galatians
understanding of this righteousness by faith.
notes
DISCUSSION
1. What is the key difference between Christian righteousness and all other
kinds?
2. What do we mean by passive righteousness?
3. Why is the difference between passive righteousness and active righteousness

so important?
notes
4. What is the single best thing you learned from Luther? How would it make you
different if you really understood and applied it?
1 Martin Luther, Preface, Commentary on the Epistle to the Galatians, 1535.
Galatians
A Gospel-Changed Life
Study 2 | Galatians 1:10 - 24
Galatians 1:10-2:21 is often called the autobiographical section of the epistle,

since Paul recounts in detail his conversion and early Christian experience. But
Paul is not sharing his testimony for general inspiration. We saw last week that
some people (1:7) had come among the Galatian Christians with certain claims
and teachings that departed from the message Paul had originally presented to
them. In this section he uses his personal testimony to refute some of those
claims.
READ GALATIANS 1:10-24; ALSO READ ACTS 9:1-9

1. What claims or assertions does Paul appear to be refuting in this account of his
conversion and early Christian experience?
2. Pauls account does not simply establish his authority as a teacher of the gospel.
It also illustrates some aspects of what the gospel is. How does it do so?
3. How does Paul indicate that Gods grace was working in his life before his
conversion? In what ways can you see how God worked in your life before your
conversion?
notes
A GOSPEL-CHANGED LIFE
4. What happened to Paul in and after his conversion that facilitated his growth
as a believer and equipped him for ministry? How do these factors apply to us?
5. Read verses 10 and 23-24. What results do you see of a gospel-changed life?
6. Why has Paul shared his testimony? How can Paul guide us about why, when,
and how to share with others our own testimony of Gods grace?
10
Study 2 | A Gospel-changed Life
Testimony
Study 2 | Exercise
Read and mark

THE DOCTRINE OF WORKMANSHIP

One of the glories of Christianity is the assurance that we are Gods
workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared
in advance for us to do (Eph. 2:10). This statement by Paul that we are
created does not simply refer to our physical formation, as God has created
all human beings (see Gen.1:26-27). Rather, Paul is talking about being created
in Christ. It means that every person who believes in Christ does so because
she or he is the object of Gods spiritual creation. The word workmanship
is very important. It is the Greek word poema from which we get our word
poem. It means that every believer is essentially a work of artGods art!
Consider how artists work, whether they are writers, musicians, painters,
sculptors, etc. They labor long and hard and with the utmost care and detailed
attention. Sometimes they do very littleonly a stroke here or there. Other
times they make massive changes. But always they seek to bring the raw
material into line with an artistic vision. Thus Paul is telling us that God labors
over all believers throughout our entire lives, intervening and guiding and
shaping usall to bring us into line with a vision he has for us. That is
mentioned also in Ephesians 2:10: created . . . to do good works, which God
prepared in advance for us to do. Thus, God has a particular set of good
works for us to do, for which he prepares us our whole lives.
LOOKING AT OUR LIVES

It is therefore of utmost importance to look back on our lives and see
everything that has happened through this grid, namely that:
God has been at work through the various influences of our lives
(created in Christ). Our family, friends, experiences, and troubles all

must be seen as the instruments of an Artist to mold and shape us. All
our lives, he has been at work.
God has been at work to make us something beautiful (workmanship).
God is out to make our beings something greatto give us characters

of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, integrity, humility, and selfcontrol.
God has been at work to make us something useful (good works . . .
prepared in advance). God is also out to make our doings something

greatto make us helpful and able to serve others in special ways.
11
notes
TESTIMONY
Paul uses this doctrine of workmanship like a pair of spectacles through

which to view his entire life. In Galatians 1:13-23, he shows us that he now
sees God at work through his whole life (God, who set me apart from birth
and called me, v. 15). Secondly, he now sees that God used the gospel to
make him something beautiful. He had been a fanatically intense person who
felt superior in his self-righteousness and criticized others (how intensely I
persecuted . . . extremely zealous for the traditions, vv. 13-14). But God
humbled him and showed him he was nothing apart from undeserved grace
(called me by his grace [and] was pleased to reveal his Son in me) so that
now he loves to lead people to praise and thanks (they praised God because
of me, v. 24). Thirdly, he realizes that though his obsessive study of Scripture
and theology (the traditions) was originally motivated by self-righteousness
and the need to feel superior, he was now uniquely equipped as a Christian to
be a preacher, teacher, and evangelist (so that I might preach him among the
Gentiles, v. 16). His scholarship and knowledge of the Bible enabled him to
bridge the gap between Christianity and various pagan philosophies and
religions.
DISCUSSION
1. What most helped you? What were your biggest [!] exclamation points?
2. What questions did this raise? What were your [?] question marks?
12
Study 2 | Exercise
TESTIMONY
notes
RE-EXAMINING YOUR LIFE

Take time to look back at your own life, using three questions based on the
three aspects of Pauls teaching. Take several minutes to individually answer
each of the questions below. Then go through each question as a group.
Encourage all who feel free to share their answers.
1. As you look back on your life, how can you see that God was working (though
you didnt know it at the time):
a. To protect you?
b. To wake you up to things you denied?
c. To show you weaknesses or flaws in yourself?
d. To show you your value to him?
[Note: There may be some overlap between these categories. (I.e., God
may have worked to wake you up [b] to a particular flaw in yourself [c].)]
13
notes
TESTIMONY
2. How did God help you to see that salvation was by grace, not good works?
(Or how has he been doing so? You may still be in process!)
3. What practical difference in your character has Gods grace made? (In other
words, in what way would you be a fundamentally different personality had
God not shown you his love?)
4. In what ways has God prepared you to be of service and help to others? What
has he equipped you to do in service of God, your loved ones, your neighbor?
14
Study 2 | Exercise
Galatians
Unity in the Gospel

The rite of circumcision is part of what has been called the Old Testament
ceremonial law. This was not what we might call the moral principles of the
Old Testament, such as the Ten Commandments against lying, murder, and
adultery. Rather, these were very detailed prescriptions about food, dress, and
other daily practices. Under the Mosaic code, these made one ritually clean
and acceptable for Gods presence in temple worship. Thus they were called the
clean laws. Because Gentiles generally did not follow these regulations, Jews
considered them unclean and unfit for Gods presenceunless they adopted
the entire Mosaic code for daily living, including circumcision.
The ceremonial law had two practical purposes. First, it served to keep the Jews
a culturally distinct group, making it more difficult for them to be assimilated into
the larger, idol-worshiping cultures around them. This was the cultural purpose
of the law: to make it hard for the Jews to form partnerships and marriages with
unbelievers. Thus these rules were boundary markers that rendered the Jews
ethnically and culturally distinct. Second, the ceremonial law served to
demonstrate that God is a holy God, and we can only come into his presence if
we are cleansed of our impurities. This was the didactic purpose of the law: to
teach us we are not naturally clean or acceptable in Gods sight.

1. If Paul did not need human authorization to preach the gospel, why did he
present his gospel to the leaders in Jerusalem (2:1-2)?
2. Why was it so significant that Titus (a non-Jew) was not required by the
Jerusalem leaders to take on the Jewish mark of circumcision in 2:3-5? What are
the implications?
15
notes
UNITY IN THE GOSPEL
3. What, then, was at stake in this meeting in Jerusalem? How might the truth
of the gospel been lost (2:5)? Imagine what bad things could have happened
so that you can appreciate what God did for us all that day.
4. Paul says that the false teachers were threatening the freedom we have in
Christ Jesus (2:4). In what ways does the gospel give us freedom that normal
earn-your-salvation-religion does not?
5. What are some common ways that people today lose the freedom of the
gospel and add to the gospel (2:6)?
16
Study 3 | Unity in the Gospel
UNITY IN THE GOSPEL
notes
6. In 2:7-10 we see not only that there should be a unity among gospel believers,
but also a unity among gospel proclaimers. How is this unity expressed?
7. Why do you think the Jerusalem apostles stressed that Paul remember the
poor (2:10)? Does your personal life reflect the importance of this?
17
The Two Prodigal Sons

Study 3
Read and mark

LUKE 15:1-3, 11-32

(A sermon by Timothy Keller)
Introduction
This parable is nearly always called The Parable of the Prodigal Son, but not
by Jesus. When he begins the story, he says, There was a man who had two
sons (v.11), so the story is a comparison and contrast of both brothers. We
have sentimentalized this parable because of our almost complete concentration
on the middle of the story regarding the younger brother. We imagine that the
hearers eyes welled with tears as they heard how God will always love and
welcome us, no matter what weve done. But if we truly come to understand
why Jesus told this parable and what he meant, we will come to see that the
listeners were actually thunderstruck, offended, and furious. For Jesus purpose
here was not to warm hearts, but to explode the normal human categories of
how to approach God. He does this by showing us two kinds of people, and
thus two kinds of lostness and running from God, but still just one way home.
Two Kinds of People
At the beginning of the chapter, Luke gives us the setting of the parable. The
Pharisees and the teachers of the law were muttering and complaining about
Jesus (v. 2) but tax collectors and sinners were all gathering around to hear
him (v. 1). These two kinds of people correspond to the two brothers in the
parable. Tax collectors and sinners are like the younger brother. They have
engaged in immoral, irreligious wild living (v.13). They have left the traditional
morality of their families. The Pharisees and the teachers of the law, however,
are like the elder brother. They have stayed with the traditional morality of their
upbringing. They are deeply devoted to studying and obeying the Word of God.
They pray and worship constantly.
The religious and moral elder brothers were shocked by Jesus ministry. The
Greek tense of the verb (were gathering around) and the context indicate
that the prevailing trend and pattern in Jesus ministry was to attract the very
people who most hated and despised religion! Moral people were put off by
Jesus but those socially and morally out of the mainstream were strongly
attracted to him. We see this continuously in the Gospels. When there is a
religious person with a political outcast (Zacchaeus, Luke 19), or a sexual
outcast (the fallen woman, Luke 7), or a racial outcast (Samaritan woman,
John 4), it is always the younger brother who connects with Jesus and the
elder brother who does not.
18
THE TWO PRODIGAL SONS
notes
Jesus is continually saying to the respectable and upright, The tax collectors
and the prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God ahead of you (Matt.
21:31). Thus, the puzzled, angry reaction of the moral and religious people is
not surprising. They are saying, Why, these kinds of people never come to our
services! They despise our meetings and organizations. They are completely
turned off to religion. Therefore, there is something wrong with this. He must
just be telling them what they want to hear!
The point? When the message of the gospel is clear, moral people tend to
dislike it, while irreligious people are intrigued and attracted. The way to know
that you are communicating and living the same gospel message as Jesus is
that younger brothers are more attracted to you than elder brothers. This is a
very searching test because, almost always, our churches are not like that. The
kinds of people that were attracted to Jesus are not attracted to us. We only
attract conservative, buttoned-down, moral people. The licentious, the
liberated, the broken, the people out of the mainstream very much despise
us. That can only mean one thing. We may think we understand the gospel of
Jesus, but we dont. If we dont see the same effect Jesus saw, then we lack
the same message Jesus had. If our churches arent filled with younger
brothers, then we must be more like the elder brother than wed like to think.
Two Approaches
Jesus story of the two sons demolishes the natural human categories for
salvation and how we are to approach God. The world has only two grids
through which it understands spiritual issues (though there are an infinite
number of variations on each one!). First, there is a moralistic grid. This says
that salvation is finding God by obeying his law or by living up to standards of
some kind. Though God may forgive if the repentance is very sincere, we must
measure up with our goodness. The second grid is a relativistic grid. This says
that salvation is finding ourselves by following our hearts. In this view, there
may be a God or there may not, but if there is, he will accept us as long as we
are sincerely seeking what we feel to be our principles.
Both grids then divide the world into two basic groups, one seen favorably and
the other unfavorably. The moralistic sees the religious people as in and the
immoral as out. But the relativistic sees the free spirits as in and the
judgmental people as out.
How does Jesus story address these views? Well, if the last eight verses were
left outif the story were mainly about the younger brotherthis parable could
be taken by either moralists or relativists as confirming their grid! The
relativistic grid could appropriate it for itself by saying, Ah, see! The son
returned home after all that sin, and he was just accepted! There was no need
for punishment, no need for atonement, no need for payment. Thats the
ticketGod accepts us no matter what we do. The moralistic grid could
appropriate it for itself by saying, Ah, see! The son ruined his life when he
didnt do the fathers will, but when he came back to live a good life, then he
was received. Thats the ticketGod only welcomes you if you are good.
19
notes
But the parables ending completely changes all that. For one thing, the story
mightily challenges the urban liberated grid that sees evil as mainly a lack of
personal freedom. We see the ruin of such a life. And there is a final, hidden
argument against the relativistic view that we will get to later.
However, Jesus main target here is the moralistic grid. And here is the
shocking heart of the parable. Jesus shows us a father with two sons, and
actually both are equally alienated from his heart. One has expressed alienation
by running far away, but the elder brother is just as angry and just as much a
stranger to the father. The father must go out to each of them to urge them
to come in (vv. 20, 28). But heres the remarkable part. One son is a very good
person, one is a very wicked person, but in the end, it is the evil son who
comes in to the fathers feast and dances, and it is the good son who
absolutely will not. The listeners knew what that meant. They were utterly
stunned. It was a complete reversal of everything they believed. You can
almost hear them gasp as the story ended. The lover of prostitutes enters the
kingdom of God, and the moral man does not.
But notice: What is keeping the elder brother out? Why does he stay out when
the younger brother goes in? He tells us: It is because all these years Ive
been slaving for you and never disobeyed . . . (v. 29). It is not his badness
thats keeping him out, but his goodness. It is not his sins that are keeping
him from sharing in the feast of the father so much as his righteousness.
The elder brother in the end is lostnot despite his good record, but because
of it. Now we are getting to the heart of how the gospel differs from the moral
grid. As John Gerstner put it, Nothing now stands between the sinner and
God but the sinners good works. . . . All they need is need. All they must
have is nothing. . . . But, alas, sinners cannot part with their virtues. 1
The gospel is neither simply religion nor irreligion; it is neither simple morality
nor immorality. Most everyone thinks that the moralistic grid seems to be the
Christian one, yet the gospel is a radically different approach. The moralistic grid
says, The good are in and the bad are out, and the relativistic grid says, The
liberated are in and the oppressive are out. But the gospel says, The humble
are in and the proud are out. And Jesus is telling us here (as we see
throughout the Gospels) that when the elder types and the younger types
clearly hear this new gospel grid, the younger types are generally more open
and less offended. That is why the real gospel faith is one that religious people
by definition do not like.
Two Kinds of Running
So what is this gospel grid for approaching God? The parable of the Two
Prodigals gives us several important planks.
First, we learn that the gospel provides a radically deeper view of the concept
of sin than either of the other two grids. Of course, the relativistic view of sin is
well known to be shallow, yet ultimately it does not really differ from the
20
notes
moralistic. They both think of sin as basically breaking the rulesthey just
differ in what the rules are! But the governing theme in this parable (and all the
stories of Luke 15) is that sin is running from Godavoiding, escaping, saying,
I dont need you!
This is a much more profound concept than breaking rules. Why? Flannery
OConnor grasped this when she said of one of her characters, There was . . .
a deep black wordless conviction in him that the way to avoid Jesus was to
avoid sin. 2 How could that be? Here is a man who knows that the only way to
avoid Jesus as Savior is to avoid sin. If I feel I am a good person, I may look to
Jesus as Example, or as Helper, or as Strengthbut I wont need to utterly rely
on him for every breath and obey him unconditionally. If I am a good person,
then I have rights: Jesus owes it to me to listen to my prayers, to protect me
and reward me.
This is clearly the attitude of the elder brother. Why is he so angry with the
father? He feels he has the right to tell the father what he should do with his
robes, rings, and calves. It shows that he is just as resentful of the fathers
control of his goods as was the younger brother. The younger brother went
away to get out from under the fathers control of his wealth, but the older
brother stayed home and never disobeyed as his way to do the same thing.
At heart they were absolutely the same. Both were trying to escape the
authority of the father, both resented his control and rebelled. But one did it by
breaking all the fathers rules, and the other did it by keeping them.
Now we see why running from God is a deeper definition of sin than
breaking the rules of Godbecause you can run from God either by breaking
his rules or by keeping them. The difference between a religious person and a
true Christian is that the religious person obeys God to get control over God
and to get things from God, but the Christian obeys just to get God. Religious
persons obey to get leverage over God, to control him, to put him in a position
where they think he owes them. Therefore, despite their moral and religious
fastidiousness, they are actually attempting to be their own saviors. Christians,
who know they are only saved by grace and can never control God, obey him
out of a desire to love, please, and draw closer to the One who saved them.
Another way to understand this is to ask, Why do we obey or sin? Until the
gospel changes our hearts, the basic reason for either is exactly the same. The
younger brother and the elder brother had the wealth of the father as their main
goal. They wanted his things, but not him. The younger brothers sins allowed
him to get his money and do what he wanted with it. The older brothers
righteousness was motivated by the same thing. Thus their real trust was not
in the father but in the things that were their ultimate joy. Their real joy and
sense of worth resided in these things, not in the father. So sins against the
fathers will and good deeds done to get control over the father are both
ways to obtain things other than God. They are both ways to become your own
savior and lord.
21
notes
Now we can see one more reason why younger brothers are generally more
open to the gospel than elder brothers. Younger brothers have literally run from
the father physically and morally. Its easier for them to see their need. Older
brothers have not. They are running away from God while they have physically
and morally stayed close. See how hard it is for religious people to believe they
are running from God! But they are.
The gospel does not agree that there are spiritually two kinds of people in the
worldgood and bad. Instead, it says there are just two different kinds of
running from God. You can run away by breaking the rules or by keeping them.
But you are running nonetheless.
Two Kinds of Lostness
Not only does the gospel give us a deeper definition of sin, it also provides a
deeper understanding of lostness. It is typical for people to think of lost
people as wild and out of control. And there is a kind of person whose body
and spirit are very broken through wild and riotous living. It would not be difficult
to take this text, look at the breakdown of the younger brothers life, and spend
time showing the signs and remedies for younger brother lostness.
But because there are two kinds of running from God, there are two sets
of lostness traits. We will concentrate here on elder brother lostness
because it is much more insidious (as we have seen) and misunderstood. Not
only are there many, many people in churches who are not Christians because
they are elder brothers, there are also many Christians who are deeply
affected by the elder brother spirit. These are people who still have not grasped
the gospel well, who maintain a moralistic grid through which they look at
themselves and read the Bible. Richard Lovelace says that many Christians
rely on their sanctification for their justification 3 and thus are very touchy,
unhappy, and insecure. We need to recognize the marks of elder brother
lostness.
One sign of the elder brother spirit is that he is filled with anger about how
his life is going (v. 28, became angry). One sign of a moralistic spirit is a
feeling that God owes me a good and comfortable life if I live up to his
standards. Now, that will continually lead to anger whenever your life takes a
bad turn. If you feel you have been living right, you will be angry at God; if you
feel you have not been living right, you will be angry at yourself. Either way,
your life will be filled with anger because you have been trying to control God
through your goodness.
A second sign of the elder brother spirit is a joyless, mechanical obedience.
Notice that the older son lets his slip show when he says, Ive been slaving
for you (v. 29). Look at this way: There are two ways to listen to Mozart. You
may listen to Mozart because it is instrumental (a means) to something else
you love for its own sake. For example, you may listen to Mozart to get an
22
notes
A in music appreciation class so that you can get your degree and a good
job. Or you may listen to Mozart so you can feel (and look) like a cultured
person. But you can also listen to Mozart because it is beautiful for its own
sake. It gives you pleasure just for what it is in itself. Elder brother obedience
treats God as instrumentala means to an end. You dont do good out of a
delight in goodness for its own sake or for the pleasure of God. Instead, you do
it joylessly and slavishly. But Christians are filled with amazement at the grace
of God and obey out of a delight in pleasing him for his own sake.
A third sign of the elder brother spirit is a coldness to younger brother types.
And especially, elder brothers are disdainful of or ineffective in evangelism. The
older son will not even own or acknowledge his brotherthis son of yours
(v. 30). The person changed by the real gospel is always disposed toward
evangelism. For one thing, if you believe you are a sinner saved by grace alone,
you will not feel superior to anyone elsenot to other cultural or racial groups,
not to other faiths, not to immoral people. You will treat them with respect
(because you know your morality has been as sinful and God-escaping as
their immorality). Secondly, if you understand the gospel, you will treat others
with hope. You will never look at anyone and say, Heres someone who could
never become a Christian (because now you know that all types of people
are equally unlikely to find God). Thirdly, if you understand the gospel, you will
be very courageous in your witness. You will not be bound by what people
think of you.
A fourth sign of the elder brother spirit is a lack of assurance of the fathers
love. The son says, You never threw me a party (v. 29). There is no dancing
or festiveness in the elder brothers relationship with his father. As long as you
try to earn your salvation by controlling God through your goodness, you will
never, ever be sure you have made it. There will always be anxiety, fear, and
uncertainty in your relationship. No wonder there is no intimacy in the prayer
life of the elder brotherno joy or closenessthough the elder brother may be
very diligent in saying his prayers.
A fifth sign of elder brother spirit is an unforgiving, judgmental spirit. If you
are an elder brother, you lack two things necessary to forgive. First, you lack
the emotional humility to say, Im no different. You instead look at the sinner
and say, I would never do that! Second, you lack the emotional wealth to
say, I am so loved and forgiven by my father, what does it matter that I was
slighted or wronged by him?
One Way Home
If there are two kinds of running and two kinds of lostness, are there two ways
home? No, there is only one, though it must be applied in different ways. Not
only is there one way home for both younger and older brother non-Christians,
there is one way for believers to grow out of the immaturity and old false
grids that still bedevil us.
23
notes
First, we need the father to come out to us. Even the younger brother gets the
fathers kiss before he repents (v. 20). The fathers kiss is not a response to our
repentance but the action that brings it about. With the older brother, the
father must come out and plead with him (v. 28), just as he pleads today with
hardened religious people. We all need Gods grace to come to us first. We
need him to seek us or we will never seek him.
Second, we must repent, not just of our sins, but also of our righteousness.
We need a deeper, more comprehensive repentance. We must recognize that
the reasons for our righteous deeds have been the same as the reasons for our
sins. We must admit that other things besides God are operating as our
functional trusts and joy, and that our main sin has been our efforts at selfsalvation, at trying to be our own Savior. Repentance means to admit that the
reason we did right was to put God in our debt, so that we could have a say in
the kind of life we deserve and keep control of our lives.
Third, we must rely on and rejoice in what the father has provided for our
salvation. We said earlier that, at first glance, the welcome of the younger
brother seems cheap. There is no punishment, no atonementhe is just
taken in! Does this mean that the relativists are right, that God just accepts us
whatever we do, as long as we are sorry? No. Think: How was the younger
brother put back in the family? He got a robe, a ring, a place back in the
inheritance. But the only way the father could do this is at great expense. It is
at the expense of the elder brother. The younger brother had already taken
away his rightful portion of the inheritance, and now every cent of the father
belongs by right to the elder brother. When the father says, Everything I have
is yours (v. 31), he is speaking the literal truth. Every robe, every ring, every
fatted calf is the elder brothers. The salvation of the younger son is not freeit
will be extremely expensive. The father cannot do it except at the expense of
his other son.
So are we stuck? Nowe are not stuck. We have a different elder brother. That
is the point of the parable. Jesus has shown the Pharisees what they look like:
absolutely stuck in their self-righteous spirit, absolutely alienated from the
gracious heart of the father. But Jesus is not. Hebrews 2:11-12 says, Both the
one who makes men holy and those who are made holy are of the same
family. So Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers. He says [to God], I will
declare your name to my brothers. Jesus Christ is the true elder brother. He
is revealed to us by way of contrast with the parables elder brother. He came
to earth and truly obeyed his Father and never disobeyed his orders. He truly
has the right to all the Father owns. But instead, he came out and searched for
us, and found us in the pigsty, and carried us home on his shoulders singing
with joy. And he gave us his robe, his ring, his place, his wealthall at his own
expense.
Understanding this truth is transformational and essential. Well never stop
being elder brothers until we rejoice in the work of our true elder brother.
24
notes
DISCUSSION
1. Have you been more of a younger brother in your thinking and living or an
elder brother?
2. What convicted you most in this sermon?
3. What helped you most?
4. What questions did it raise?
1 John Gerstner, Theology for Everyman (Chicago: Moody Press, 1965), p. 72.
2 Flannery OConnor, Wise Blood (New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1949, 2007), p. 16.
3 Richard Lovelace, Dynamics of Spiritual Life (Downers Grove, Ill.: InterVarsity Press, 1979), p. 101.
25
Galatians
Living the Gospel

In this section, Paul for the first time lays out his gospel as justification by
faith. He also introduces a principle that will surprise many: that Christians need
the gospel as well as non-Christians. In 2:14 he insists that all of life must be
continually thought out and lived out by believers in line with the gospel.

1. Read Acts 11:1-18. Why did Peter originally begin eating with Gentiles (v. 12a)?
What led him to stop (v. 12b)?
2. What do you think Paul meant when he said that Peter was not acting in line
with the truth of the gospel (v. 14)?
3. Why was Peter being particularly hypocritical in his attitudes toward Gentile
Christians (vv. 13-14)?
26
notes
LIVING THE GOSPEL
4. How can we make the same kind of mistake Peter did? How can we focus on
non-essentials? How can we fail to eat with other Christians?
5. How is nationalism/racism not in line with the gospel? What difference does
it make that Paul takes this approach rather than simply saying that it is
wrong?
6. In verses 15-16, Paul begins to talk of being justified by Christ. How does the
discussion regarding Peter shed light on the meaning of the word justification?
(See addendum below.)
27
Study 4 | Living the Gospel
LIVING THE GOSPEL
notes
7. What do you think it means that Paul died to the law? What do you think it
means that he died to the law through the law? Though he was a law-keeping
Pharisee, why was it only after dying to the law that Paul began to live for God?
8. Put verses 20-21 in your own words. What seeming contradiction is there
between the two sentences of verse 20? What mistakes does this tension
help us avoid in the Christian life?
9. What is the best and most helpful thing you learned today? What verse is
most special to you? Why?
28
notes
LIVING THE GOSPEL
Addendum
The actual word justification has a legal reference, and therefore provides a
different perspective on our salvation in Christ. The opposite of clean is
polluted and, therefore, that word would not be sufficient to convey what
Christ does for us. It would be easy to think that God accepts us because
Christ cleanses and gets rid of our sinful thoughts and habits. In other words,
we might conclude that we become acceptable to God by actually becoming
righteous. But the opposite of justified is condemned. This means that in
Christ, though we are actually sinners, we are not under condemnation. God
accepts us despite our sin. So we are not acceptable to God because we
actually become righteous. We become actually righteous because we are
acceptable to God. John Stott and J. I. Packer explain further.
Justification is a legal term, borrowed from the law courts. It is the exact
opposite of condemnation (cf. Deut.25:1; Prov.17:15; Rom. 8:33-34). To
condemn is to declare somebody guilty; to justify is to declare him not guilty,
innocent or righteous. In the Bible it refers to Gods act of unmerited favor by which
he puts a sinner right with himself, not only pardoning or acquitting him, but
accepting and treating him as righteous. 1
To justify in the Bible means . . . to declare . . . of a man on trial, that he is not
liable to any penalty, but is entitled to all the privileges due to those who have kept
the law. Justifying is the act of a judge pronouncing the opposite sentence to
condemnationthat of acquittal and legal immunity. 2
29
Exercise 4 | Living the Gospel
Living In-Line with the Gospel

Study 4 | Exercise
Read and mark

PRINCIPLE
In Galatians 2:14, Paul lays down a powerful principle. He deals with Peters
racial pride and cowardice by declaring that he was not living in line with the
truth of the gospel. From this we see that the Christian life is a process of
renewing every dimension of our livesspiritual, psychological, corporate,
socialby living out the ramifications of the gospel. The gospel is to be applied
to every area of thinking, feeling, relating, and behaving. The implications and
applications of Galatians 2:14 are vast.
IMPLICATIONS
Implication 1: The power of the gospel
First, Paul is showing us that we are changed by the power of God when we
bring the gospel truth to bear on every area of life. The Bible describes the
gospel in the most astounding terms. Angels constantly long to look into it
(1 Peter 1:12). It does not simply bring us power, but it is the power of God
itself, for Paul says, I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power
of God for salvation (Rom. 1:16). It is also the blessing of God, with benefits
for anyone who comes near (1 Cor. 9:23). It is even called the light of the glory
of God (2 Cor. 4:4, 6). Finally, the gospel has the life of God. Paul said to the
Corinthians, I gave you birth through the gospel! (1 Cor. 4:15).
Implication 2: The sufficiency of the gospel
Second, Paul is showing that we never get beyond the gospel in our
Christian life to something more advanced. It is not just the ABCs but the
A to Z of Christianity. The gospel is not just the minimum required doctrine
for entrance into the kingdom, but the way we make all our progress in the
kingdom. We are not made right with God through faith in the gospel and then
sanctified and matured through mere moral effort. Faith in the gospel is also
the way to grow (Gal. 3:1-3; Col. 1:3-6). It is common to think, The gospel is
for non-Christians. But once we are saved, we grow through work and
obedience. But work that is not in-line with the gospel will not sanctify; it
will strangle. All our problems come from a failure to apply the gospel. The
gospel changes every area of our lives. How?
30
notes
LIVING IN-LINE WITH THE GOSPEL
APPLICATIONS
The two thieves of the gospel
Since Paul speaks of being in-line with the gospel, we can extend the
metaphor to say that gospel renewal occurs when we keep from walking
off-line either to the right or to the left. The key to understanding the
implications of the gospel is to see the gospel as a third way between
two mistaken opposites. However, this does not mean that the gospel is a
compromise midway between two poles. It does not produce something in
the middle, but something different from both. Specifically, the gospel
critiques both religion and irreligion (Matt. 21:31; 22:10).
Just as Christ was crucified between two thieves, so the doctrine of
justification is crucified between two opposite errors. That is, there are
two basic false ways of thinking, each of which steals the power and the
distinctiveness of the gospel by pulling us off the gospel line to one side or
the other. These thieves can be called moralism or legalism on the one hand,
and hedonism or relativism on the other. Another way to put it is that the
gospel opposes both religion and irreligion. On the one hand, moralism/religion
stresses truth without grace, for it says we must obey the truth in order to be
saved. On the other hand, relativists/ irreligion stress grace without truth,
for they say we are all acceptable and have to decide what is true for us. But
truth without grace is not really truth and grace without truth is not really
grace. Jesus was full of grace and truth. Any philosophy of life that deemphasizes or loses one or the other falls into legalism or license. Either way,
the joy, power, and release of the gospel is stolen by one thief or the other.
The gospel teaches us to say:
I am more sinful and flawed than I ever dared believe (vs. antinomianism).
I am more accepted and loved than I ever dared hope (vs. legalism).
How both thieves differ
How does moralism/religion steal joy and power?

Moralism is the view that you are acceptable (to God, the world, others,
yourself) through your attainments. Moralists do not have to be religious, but
often are. When they are, their religion is pretty conservative and filled with
rules that focus on behavior. Often moralists view God as very holy and just. This
view will lead either to self-hatred (because you cant live up to the standards) or
self-inflation (because you think you have lived up to the standards). It is ironic to
realize that inferiority and superiority complexes have the very same root!
Whether the moralist ends up smug and superior or crushed and guilty just
depends on how high the standards are and on a persons natural advantages
(such as family, intelligence, looks, will power). Moralistic people can be deeply
religious, but there is no transforming joy or power.
31
Study 4 | Exercise
notes
How does relativism steal joy and power?

Relativists are usually irreligious or else prefer liberal religion. On the surface,
they are often more tolerant than moralistic/religious people. They believe that
everyone needs to determine what is right and wrong individually. Often they
view God as a loving and/or impersonal force. They may talk a great deal about
Gods love, but since they do not think of themselves as sinners, Gods love for
us costs him nothing. If God accepts us, it is because he is so welcoming or
because we are not so bad. The concept of Gods love in the gospel is far more
rich, deep, and electrifying.
How both thieves are the same
They both seek to avoid Jesus as Savior and keep control of their lives.
Irreligious people obviously seek to be their own spiritual lords. (No one tells
me how to live or what to do. I determine what is right and wrong for me!) But
moralistic religious people subtly do the same thing. They have become their
own saviors. (I am more moral and spiritual than other people, so God owes
it to me to listen to my prayers and take me to heaven. God cannot let just
anything happen to mehe owes me a happy life. Ive earned it!)
They are both based on distorted views of the real God. The irreligious person
loses sight of the law and holiness of God and the religious person loses sight
of the love and grace of God. Only the gospel messagethat we are so sinful
that we need to be saved completely by graceallows a person to see God as
he really is. The gospel shows us a God far more holy than the legalist can bear
(Jesus had to die because we could not satisfy Gods holy demands) and yet far
more merciful than a humanist can conceive (Jesus had to die because he
loved us).
In contrast to both, Christians are those who have adopted a whole new
system of approaching God. They may have had both religious phases and
irreligious phases in their lives, but they have come to see that their reason for
both their irreligion and their religion was essentially the sameand essentially
wrong! Christians come to see that both their sins and their best deeds have all
really been ways of avoiding Jesus as Savior. A Christian says, Though I have
often failed to obey the moral law, the deeper problem was why I was trying to
obey it. Even my efforts to obey it were just a way of seeking to be my own
savior. With that mindset, even if I obey or ask for forgiveness, I am really
resisting the gospel and setting myself up as my own savior. To get the
gospel is to turn from self-justification to rely on Jesus record for a
relationship with God. The irreligious dont repent at all and the religious only
repent of sins. But Christians also repent of their righteousness. That is the
distinction between the three groups: Christian, moralists (religious), and
pragmatists (irreligious).
32
notes
CASE STUDIES
Pauls point is that we must not simply ask in every area of life, What is the
moral way to act? but What is the way that is in-line with the gospel? The
gospel must be continually applied to our lives to keep us from moving into our
habitual moralistic or individualistic directions. We must bring everything into
line with the gospel.
CASE STUDY 1: RACISM

Moralistic persons tend to be very proud of their culture. They easily fall into
cultural imperialism. They try to attach spiritual significance to their cultural
styles to make themselves feel morally superior to other peoples. This happens
because moralistic people are very insecure, since they look a lot at the eternal
law and know deep down that they cannot keep it. They use cultural
differences to buttress their sense of righteousness.
Relativistic/hedonist persons tend not to cultural imperialism but cultural
relativism. This approach says, Traditional people are racists because they
believe in absolute truth. But truth is relative. Every culture is beautiful in itself
and must be accepted on its own terms. This, however, makes it impossible
to make distinctions between evil and right in culture. [Note: Relativists are
ultimately moralistic. Since their identity (like anyone who does not grasp the
gospel) is based on some human quality or achievement, they can be respectful
only of other people who believe everything is relative! They will feel superior
to all those they dont feel are open-minded.] But Christians cannot feel
morally superior to relativists, moralists, or anyone!
The gospel approach to race. Racism is rooted in a failure to believe in grace.
The gospel leads us to be somewhat critical of all cultures, including our own
(since there is truth), yet we can feel morally superior to no one. After all, we
are saved by grace alone, and therefore a non-Christian neighbor may be more
moral and wise than we are. This gives the Christian a radically different
posture from moralists or relativists.
CASE STUDY 2: SUFFERING

Moralistic persons have a major problem when suffering strikes them. Why?
The whole point of moralism is to put God in ones debt. Moralistic people feel
that God owes them a safe life because of their goodness. When suffering hits,
the moralistic heart is forced to either feel terrific anger toward God (if you feel
you have been living up to moral standards) or terrific anger toward yourself (if
33
Study 4 | Exercise
notes
you feel you havent been living up to them). You will either think I hate God
or I hate myself or you will swing back and forth between both poles.
Relativistic/hedonistic persons are more likely to become bitter against life or
God, since they dont feel they deserve troubles in life.
The gospel approach to suffering is different. On the one hand the gospel
humbles us out of being mad at God. Jesus, the best person who ever lived,
suffered terribly. This demolishes the idea that good people should have good
lives and bad people have bad lives. If God himself was willing to become
involved in terrible suffering out of love, we should not think ourselves exempt.
On the other hand, the gospel affirms us out of feeling guilty or mad at
ourselves. Jesus suffered and died for us while we were yet sinners. The
trouble we are experiencing at the moment might be designed to wake us
up, but it cant be a quid pro quo punishment for our sins. Jesus got the
punishment for our sins. If we realize that we are accepted in Christ, then
(and only then) will suffering humble and strengthen us rather than embitter
and weaken us. As others have said, Jesus suffered, not that we might not
suffer, but that when we suffer, we could become like him.
Conclusion
The main problem in the Christian life is that we have not thought out the deep
implications of the gospel. We fail to grasp and believe it through and through.
Luther said, The truth of the Gospel . . . is . . . the principal article of all
Christian doctrine . . . . Most necessary is it therefore, that we should know this
article well, teach it unto others, and beat it into their heads continually. 3 We
live around the truth of the gospel but to some degree do not get it. So the
key to continual, deeper, spiritual renewal is the continual rediscovery of the
gospel.
DISCUSSION
1. Generally, what helped you most? What puzzled you?
34
notes
2. Select one personal problem or issue in your life. During the next week, pray,
reflect, and determine your answers to the following:
a. The moralistic way to handle this.
b. The hedonistic way to handle this.
c. The gospel way to handle this.
1 John R. W. Stott, The Message of Galatians (Downers Grove, Ill.: InterVarsity Press, 1968), p. 60.
2 J. I. Packer, Gods Words (Downers Grove, Ill.: InterVarsity Press, 1981), pp. 139-140.
3 Martin Luther, Commentary on St. Pauls Epistle to the Galatians, 1535 (London: James Clarke, 1953),
p. 101.
35
Study 4 | Exercise
Galatians
The Gospel and Faith

The first two chapters of Galatians have been called Pauls personal defense.
This section consists mainly of citations from his personal history and from early
church history which help him prove that the gospel he preaches is a direct
revelation from God, not a product of his own wisdom or the teaching of others.
Now, in chapters 3 and 4, we get Pauls theological defense of the gospel. Here
he expounds the essential content of the message itself and defends it with
several arguments.

1. What can we learn from 3:1-3 about how the Galatians came to Christ from
paganism? (What was presented to them? How did they respond? What was the
result?)
2. What can we learn from 3:3-5 about how the Galatians are to grow spiritually,
now that they are Christians?
3. Paul is warning the Galatian Christians that it is easy to fall back into works
righteousness as we try to overcome sin and live the Christian life. Give some
examples of how we must deal with sin through believing the gospel rather
than just human attainment.
36
notes
THE GOSPEL AND FAITH

4. Read Genesis 15:1-19 as background to verse 6. What does it mean that
Abrahams faith was credited? On what basis does God credit righteousness
to Abraham?
5. How is Abrahams saving faith a model for us?
6. How does the experience of gospel faith contrast with the experience of
seeking to earn Gods acceptance (vv. 10-12)?
7. If verse 10 is true, how can God credit us as righteous without being unjust
(vv. 13-14)? What does it mean that Jesus did not simply take our curse but
became a curse for us?
37
Study 5 | The Gospel and Faith
Grace and Growth

Study 5
Read and mark

This material is adapted by Timothy Keller from Dynamics of Spiritual Life by

Richard Lovelace (Downers Grove, Ill.: InterVarsity Press, 1979). The outline
form is added for ease of reference.
1. Justification and sanctification
In the New Testament . . . justification (the acceptance of believers as righteous

in the sight of God through the righteousness of Jesus Christ accounted to
them) and sanctification (progress in actual holiness expressed in their lives) are
often closely intertwined . . . . However, they are quite distinct: justification is
the perfect righteousness of Christ reckoned to us, covering the remaining
imperfections in our lives like a robe of stainless holiness; sanctification is the
process of removing those imperfections as we are enabled more and more to
put off the bondages of sin and put on new life in Christ (p. 98).
2. Justification reversed with sanctification
a. Only a fraction of the present body of professing Christians are solidly

appropriating the justifying work of Christ in their lives. Many have so
light an apprehension of Gods holiness and of the extent and guilt of
their sin that consciously they see little need for justification, although
below the surface of their lives they are deeply guilt-ridden and
insecure. Many others have a theoretical commitment to this
doctrine, but in their day-to-day existence they rely on their
sanctification for their justification . . . drawing their assurance of
acceptance with God from their sincerity, their past experience
of conversion, their recent religious performance or the relative
infrequency of their conscious, willful disobedience. Few know
enough to start each day with a thoroughgoing stand upon Luthers
platform: You are accepted, looking outward in faith and claiming
the wholly alien righteousness of Christ as the only ground for
acceptance, relaxing in that quality of trust which will produce
increasing sanctification as faith is active in love and gratitude (p. 101).
b. A conscience which is not fully enlightened both to the seriousness
of its condition before God, and to the grandeur of Gods merciful
provision of redemption, will inevitably fall prey to anxiety, pride,
sensuality and all the other expressions of that unconscious despair
which Kierkegaard called the sickness unto death (p. 102). . . .
[So] we start each day with our personal security resting not on . . .
38
notes
GRACE AND GROWTH
the sacrifice of Christ but on our present feelings or recent

achievements. . . . Since these arguments will not quiet the human
conscience, we are inevitably moved either to discouragement and
apathy or to a self-righteousness which falsifies the record to achieve
a sense of peace (p. 211).
3. Justification as the basis for all sanctification
a. Much that we have interpreted as a defect of sanctification in church

people is really an outgrowth of their loss of bearing with respect to
justification. Christians who are no longer sure that God loves and
accepts them in Jesus, apart from their present spiritual
achievements, are subconsciously radically insecure personsmuch
less secure than non-Christians, because [of] the constant bulletins
they receive from their Christian environment about the holiness of
God and the righteousness they are supposed to have. Their
insecurity shows itself in pride, a fierce defensive assertion of their
own righteousness and defensive criticism of others. They come
naturally to hate other cultural styles and other races in order to
bolster their own security and discharge their suppressed anger.
They cling desperately to legal, pharisaical righteousness, but envy,
jealousy and other branches on the tree of sin grow out of their
fundamental insecurity (pp. 211-212).
b. It is often said today, in circles which blend popular psychology with
Christianity, that we must love ourselves before we can be set free
to love others. . . . But no realistic human beings find it easy to love
or to forgive themselves, and hence their self-acceptance must be
grounded in their awareness that God accepts them in Christ. . . .
[There is much evidence in our experience against the idea that we
are children of God, but] the faith that surmounts this evidence and is
able to warm itself at the fire of Gods love, instead of having to steal
love and self-acceptance from other sources, is actually the root of
holiness (pp. 212-213).
c. Presented in this context, even the demand for sanctification
becomes part of the good news. It offers understanding of the
bondage which has distorted our lives and of the promise of release
into a life of Spirit-empowered freedom and beauty. Ministries which
attack only the surface of sin and fail to ground spiritual growth in the
believers union with Christ produce either self-righteousness or
despair . . . (p. 214).
39
GRACE AND GROWTH
notes
DISCUSSION
1. What helped you most? What questions did this reading raise?
2. In 2a, Lovelace mentions two equal but opposite ways you can fail to draw on
the benefits of justification. What are they? [Note: They are also mentioned at
the very end of 2b and 3c.]
3. In what specific ways do you reverse justification and sanctification (i.e.,

reverse the gospel)?
4. From what sources do you try to steal love and acceptance instead of
warming yourself at the fire of Gods love (3b)? How do these things
distort our lives and deny you Spirit-empowered freedom (3c)?
40
Galatians
The Gospel and the Law

INTRODUCTION
No question confronting the Christian is more practical than the question of a
believers relationship to the law of God. Whenever we hear the radical claims of
salvation by grace, we immediately ask, If we are free from the law does that
mean I dont have to obey the law of God? Or maybe Why then should I strive
to live a holy life? What is the nature of my obligation (if any) to Gods law? Paul
addresses this important question in this passage.

1. What principle is laid down in verse 18a? Compare and contrast what it means
to receive something by promise versus receiving something by law.
2. Why was the law of Moses unable to set aside or add to the promise spoken to
Abraham? (You may wish to review Genesis 15:9-18.)
3. What, then, is the purpose of the law (vv. 19-22)? (Key: What do you think it
means that we are prisoners of sin?)
41
notes
THE GOSPEL AND THE LAW
4. In verses 23-25, how does Paul explain that the law leads a person to Christ?
5. If we are not under the laws supervision (v. 25), does that imply that we can
live any way we wish? Imagine the features of a relationship with the law
based on salvation by grace rather than one based on fear and salvation by
performance.
42
Study 6 | The Gospel and the Law
Deeds, Words, and Heart

Study 6 | Exercise
Read and mark

This exercise introduces an important concept: Underneath our behavioral sins

lies a fundamental refusal to rest in Christs salvation and a drive instead to find
our own. That is the point of Lovelaces reading last week.
THE SIN UNDERNEATH THE SINS

Here is an excerpt from Martin Luthers Treatise Concerning Good Works (1520).
All those who . . . do not in all their works or sufferings, life and death, trust in
His [Gods] favor, grace and good-will, but rather seek His favor in other things or in
themselves, do not keep this [First] Commandment, and practice real idolatry, even
if they were to do the works of all the other Commandments, and in addition had all
the prayers, fasting, obedience, patience, chastity, and innocence of all the saints
combined. (Sermon 1, Section X)
Comment: Luther says that if you look to your moral performance as the
basis of your relationship with God, you are breaking the first of the Ten
Commandments: Have no other gods before me. If you fail to grasp and
believe the gospel of free justification through Christs work, you violate the
first commandment. How could this be?
If we doubt or do not believe that God is gracious to us and is pleased with us, or
if we presumptuously expect to please Him through . . . our works, then it [our
compliance with the law] is all pure deception, outwardly honoring God, but
inwardly setting up self as a false [savior] . . . . Note for yourself, then, how far
apart these two are: keeping the First Commandment with outward works only, and
keeping it with inward [justifying faith]. For this last makes true, living children of
God, the other only makes worse idolatry and the most mischievous hypocrites on
earth . . . . (Sections XI and XII)
Comment: Luther says that if we obey Gods law without a belief that we are
already accepted and loved in Christ, then in all our doing good we are really
looking to something more than Jesus to be the true source of our meaning
and happiness. We are trusting in our being a good parent, or being a good
spouse, or our moral uprightness, or our spiritual performance, or our service to
other people as our real savior. If we arent sure God already loves us in
Christ, we will be looking to something else for our foundational significance
and worth. This is why Luther says that we are committing idolatry (breaking
the first commandment) if we dont thoroughly trust in Christ for our
acceptability, even if we are otherwise totally moral and obedient to God.
And as this Commandment is the very first, highest and best, from which all
the others proceed, in which they exist, and by which they are directed and
measured, so also its work, that is, the faith or confidence in Gods favor at all
43
notes
DEEDS, WORDS, AND HEART
times, is the very first, highest and best, from which all others must proceed,
exist, remain, be directed and measured . . . . (Section IX)
Comment: All people sin in general because we are sinners, but why do we
sin in any particular instance? Luther indicates that the first commandment is
foundational to all the others. Why? Because we will not break commandments
two through ten unless we are in some way also breaking commandment one
and serving an idol. Every sin is rooted in the inordinate lust for something.
This comes because we are trusting in that thing rather than in Christ for our
righteousness or salvation. At the moment we sin, it is because we are looking
to something to give us what only Jesus can give us. Beneath any particular sin
is the general sin of rejecting Christ-salvation and indulging in self-salvation.
CASE STUDY: A LIE

What if you find that you have a habit of lying? What do you do about it?
Moralistic ways to stop lying
Fear: I must stop doing this because God will punish me; he wont bless me.
Pride: I must stop doing this because Im a good Christian. I dont want to be
the kind of person who lies. In general, you will find that the more you simply
lay biblical principles on your heart, the more your heart resists it. (In Romans
7:21 Paul says, When I [most] want to do right, evil lies close at hand [ESV].)
The gospel way to stop lying
First, ask the question: Why am I lying in this particular situation? The reason
we lie (or do any sin) is because at that moment we feel there is something we
simply must haveand so we lie. One typical reason we lie (though it is by no
means the only one) is because we are deeply fearful of losing face or
someones approval. That means that the sin under the sin of lying is the
idolatry of (at that moment) human approval. If we break the commandment
against false witness, it is because we are breaking the first commandment
against idolatry. We are looking more to human approval than to Jesus as our
source of worth, meaning, and happiness. Under the sin of lying is the failure to
rejoice in and believe in our acceptance in Christ. Under the sin of lying is a kind
of heart-unbelief in the gospel (whatever we may tell ourselves intellectually).
As we will see below, anything you add to Jesus Christ as a requirement for a
happy life is a functional salvation, a pseudo-lord. It will control you, whether it
be power, approval, comfort, or control. The only way to change your habit of
lying is to repent of your failure to believe the gospel and to confess that you
are not saved and acceptable by pursuing this goal and serving this master, but
through the grace of Jesus Christ.
44
Study 6 | Exercise
notes
Consider this case study in light of this excerpt from the Belgic Confession (1561):
Therefore it is so far from being true that this justifying faith makes [us] remiss in a
. . . holy life, that, on the contrary, without it [we] would never do anything out of
love to God, but only out of self-love or fear of damnation. (Article 24).
Comment: Unless we believe the gospel, we will be driven in all we do
whether obeying or disobeyingby pride (self-love) or fear (of damnation).
Mere moral effort without the gospel may restrain the heart but cannot truly
change it. Mere moral effort merely jury rigs the evil of the heart to produce
moral behavior out of self-interest. It would be possible to use fear and pride to
motivate a person to be honest, but since fear and pride are also the roots for
lying, it is only a matter of time before such a thin tissue collapses. Luther was
right. If you are obeying the law without deep joy in your acceptance in Christ,
you are not loving God with all your heart. You are not obeying God for God.
You are being moral so that you can feel secure in your uprightness, so that you
can put God in your debt, so that he owes you a comfortable life. You are being
moral in the service of self-salvation, out of the fear and pride that arise without
an identity built on Christ in the gospel.
OTHER WORD SINS AND WHAT THEY REVEAL

1. Which of these three kinds of mouth sins is the biggest problem for you?
In which area do you struggle most?
Talking about myself: Defensiveness rather than taking criticism

graciously. Bragging rather than focusing on and complimenting others.
(Consider Galatians 6:14: May I never boast except in the cross of our
Lord Jesus Christ.)
Talking about others: Talking unkindly about others more often than
affirming and sincerely praising them. Harsh or sarcastic when giving
criticism. (See Galatians 5:15: biting and devouring each other.)
Talking about life: Complaining and murmuring more than expressing

gratitude and praise. More emphasis on the injustices than the mercies
of life. (See Galatians 5:22-23: the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace,
patience . . . gentleness . . . .)
2. Review the following quote from Richard Lovelace:
The faith that surmounts this evidence and is able to warm itself at the fire of
Gods love, instead of having to steal love and self-acceptance from other
sources, is actually the root of holiness . . . . 1
45
notes
Without a deep grasp of the gospel, we believe that

salvation/happiness/blessing depends on something we are or we do.
Thus everyone builds their identity on something besides Jesus.
Review below one psychologists categories of four basic ways in which people
seek meaning and self-acceptance. Each of the four things can become
something we depend on to establish our adequacy and worth instead of

depending on Jesus.
What We Seek
Price We Will Pay
Greatest Nightmare
Others Often Feel
Problem Emotion
COMFORT
(Privacy, lack of
stress, freedom)
Reduced productivity
Stress, demands
Hurt
Boredom
APPROVAL
(Affirmation,
love, relationship)
Less independence
Rejection
Smothered
Cowardice
CONTROL
(Self-discipline,
certainty,
standards)
Loneliness;
spontaneity
Uncertainty
Condemned
Worry
POWER
(Success,
winning, influence)
Burdened;
responsibility
Humiliation
Used
Anger
3. Now look at the circumstances surrounding your typical mouth sins. Answer
this question: When I commit this particular sin, what am I after? What do I
feel I must have for self-acceptance?
46
Study 6 | Exercise
notes
a. If you need to defend yourself against criticism, where are you warming
yourself? (Is it to get comfort, approval, control, poweror something else?)
b. If you need to run other people down or make them look bad, where are you
warming yourself? (Is it to get comfort, approval, control, poweror
something else?)
c. If you cannot be grateful and happy unless life is going according to your plan,
where are you warming yourself? (Is it to get comfort, approval, control,
poweror something else?)
47
notes
4. Imagine some ways you could draw on your hope and standing in Christ at
these moments and thus get control of your tongue.
1 Richard F. Lovelace, Dynamics of Spiritual Life (Downers Grove, Ill.: InterVarsity Press, 1979), p. 213.
48
Study 6 | Exercise
Galatians
Children of God
Study 7 | Galatians 3:26 - 4:7
Paul began his theological defense of the gospel in chapter 3 by demonstrating

how the law of Moses did not contradict of the promise of salvation by grace that
God gave Abraham. Rather, the law prepared us for grace, showing us how much
we need a salvation by Gods promise rather than by our good works. Now, in
this passage, Paul shows how the law and the gospel are not just stages in the
worlds redemptive history, but also stages in an individuals journey toward
salvation in Christ.
READ GALATIANS 3:26-4:7

1. What do we learn about our sonship from 3:26-27 and from the illustration of
4:1-2?
2. Verse 27 says that all Christians have clothed [them]selves with Christ.
Meditate on this image. What are the implications? What does it tell us about
being in Christ?
3. In verses 4:1-2, Paul imagines a child-heir of a very rich family. Meditate on this
image. In what ways does it illustrate the condition of a person who is under
the law?
49
notes
CHILDREN OF GOD
4. What is Paul saying in verse 28? How does the radical unity of verse 28 flow
from verse 26?
5. In 4:4-5, what two basic things did God send his Son to accomplish? How are
the two things alike? What happens if we remember the first but forget the
second?
6. In 4:6-7, what privileges of sonship are suggested by these verses?
50
Study 7 | Children of God
CHILDREN OF GOD
notes
7. In 4:6-7, what has the Spirit been sent to do? How is it different from what the
Son was sent to do? (Read the parallel passage in Romans 8:15-16.)
8. What is the connection between the works of the Son and the Spirit (v. 6)?
How can we experience more of the Spirits work? Share your own encounters
with this work of the Spirit.
51
Adoption in Christ
Study 7
Read and mark

PART I. UNDERSTANDING OUR ADOPTION

A. The importance of adoption
The notion that we are children of God, His own sons and daughters . . . is the
mainspring of Christian living. . . . Our sonship to God is the apex of Creation and
the goal of redemption.
Sinclair Ferguson, Children of the Living God 1
If you want to judge how well a person understands Christianity, find out how much
he makes of the thought of being Gods child, and having God as his Father. If this
is not the thought that prompts and controls his worship and prayers and his whole
outlook on life, it means that he does not understand Christianity very well at all. . . .
[Adoption] is the highest privilege that the gospel offers. . . . I have heard it
seriously argued that the thought of divine fatherhood can mean nothing to those
whose human father was inadequate, lacking wisdom, affection, or both, nor to
those many more whose misfortune it was to have a fatherless upbringing. . . .
But this is silly. For . . . it is just not true to suggest that in the realm of personal
relations positive concepts cannot be formed by contrast. . . . The truth is that all
of us have a positive ideal of fatherhood by which we judge our own and others
fathers [how else could we be unhappy with our bad fathers?], and it can safely
be said that the person for whom the thought of Gods perfect fatherhood is
meaningless or repellent does not exist.
J. I. Packer, Knowing God 2
B. Objections to and distortions of adoption

The idea that all are children of God is not found in the Bible anywhere. . . . The gift
of sonship to God becomes ours not through being born, but through being born
again. As many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of
God, even to them that believe on his name: which were born, not of blood, nor of
the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God (John1:12-13). . . . Sonship
to God, then, is a gift of grace. It is not a natural, but an adoptive sonship, and so
the New Testament explicitly pictures it.
52
ADOPTION IN CHRIST
notes
C. Adoption defined
Adoption is not a change in nature, but a change in status. If we fail to see this
truth, we will miss the significance of our adoption. . . . Adoption is . . . a
declaration God makes about us. It is irreversible, dependent entirely upon his
gracious choice, in which he says: You are my son, today I have brought you into
my family.
The profound truth of Roman adoption was that the adoptee was taken out of his
previous state and was placed in a new relationship of son to his new father . . . All
his old debts are cancelled, and in effect the adoptee started a new life as part of
his new family. . . . [On the one hand, the new father] owned all the [new
offsprings] property, controlled his personal relationships, and had the rights of
discipline. On the other hand, the father was liable for the actions of the adoptee,
and each owed the other reciprocal duties of support and maintenance.
Francis Lyall, Slaves, Citizens, and Sons 5
D. Biblical theology of adoption

God and religion are not less than they were; the Old Testament revelation of the
holiness of God, and its demand for humility in man, is presupposed throughout.
But something has been added. A new factor has come in. New Testament
believers deal with God as their Father.
According to our Lords own testimony in Johns Gospel, Gods fatherly relation
to him implied four things. [1] First, fatherhood implied authority. The Father
commands and disposes; the initiative which he calls his Son to exercise is the
initiative of resolute obedience to his Fathers will . . . (6:38; 17:4; 5:19; 4:34). [2]
Second, fatherhood implied affection. The Father loveth the Son. The Father
hath loved me . . . (5:20; 15:9-10). [3] Third, fatherhood implied fellowship. I am
not alone, for the Father is with me. He that sent me is with me; he hath not left
me alone . . . (16:32; 8:29). [4] Fourth, fatherhood implied honor. God wills to exalt
his Son. Father, glorify thy Son. The Father . . . has entrusted all judgment to the
Son, that all may honor the Son (17:1; 5:22-23). All this extends to Gods adopted
children. In, through, and under Jesus Christ their Lord, they are ruled, loved,
companied with, and honored by their heavenly Father. [Father . . . let the world
know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me. Father,
I want those you have given me to be with me where I am . . . (17:23-24).]
53
notes
ADOPTION IN CHRIST
PART II. EXPERIENCING OUR ADOPTION

A. The status Christians have
God sent his Son . . . to redeem those under the law, that we might receive
the full rights of sons [lit. the sonship]. (Gal. 4:4-5)
B. The experience Christians can have
Because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the
Spirit who calls out, Abba, Father. (Gal. 4:6)
You did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you
received the Spirit of sonship. And by him we cry Abba, Father! The Spirit
himself testifies with our spirit that we are Gods children. (Rom. 8:15-16)
C. What is the experience of sonship?

[We all have a native] inability to believe that salvation is entirely of Gods grace and
love. . . . We are often slow to realize the implications of that. We are sons, but we
are in danger of having the mindset of hired servants. Furthermore, if there is
nothing else the Devil can do to mar our joy in Christ, he will try to produce in us
what our forefathers used to call a bondage frame of spirit. . . . That is why [God
sends us] the Spirit of adoption. What is [that]? Paul says:
You did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received
the Spirit of sonship. And by him we cry, Abba, Father (Rom. 8:15-16).
. . . Paul is referring to the Holy Spirit . . . [who] brings us into a deep-seated
persuasion that we really are the sons of God. If it is a fact that . . . God has
adopted us into his family, then the Spirit assures us this is true, and enables us to
live in the enjoyment of such a rich spiritual blessing. . . . He sends his Spirit into
our hearts, bringing us the deep spiritual and psychological security that rests on
the objective fact that our sins are forgiven and we belong to the Lord.
Abba was the word that was used familiarly by children talking to their fathers. . . .
A little child does not always address his father as father; he uses terms such as
Papa, Dada, Dad. That is the kind of meaning represented by this word
Abba. It was a . . . word lisped by a little child. . . . But let us next notice the
word cry.. . . We cry Abba, Father. It is a very strong word, and clearly the
Apostle has used it quite deliberately. It means a loud cry . . . it expresses deep
emotion. . . .What then does this imply? Obviously . . . real knowledge of God. . . . .
54
ADOPTION IN CHRIST
notes
God is no longer to us a distant God. . . . He is not merely a God in whom we

believe intellectually, theologically, theoretically, doctrinally only. All this is possible
to one who is not a child of God at all. . . .[Our] worship and praying are
spontaneous; it is the spontaneity of the child who sees the father and says
Abba. And not only spontaneity, but confidence also! The little child has
confidence. He does not analyze it . . . but [he] knows that Abba is his father.
Grown-up people may be standing back at a distance . . . being very formal [with
some great personage]; but the little child comes running in; he rushes, and holds
on to his fathers legs. He has a right that no-one else has. . . . It is instinctive. . . .
We cry Abba, Father 9
D. M. Lloyd-Jones, Romans 8:5-17
D. An example of the experience (spirit) of sonship

The problem: Because I did not believe God loved me on the basis of Christs life,
death, and resurrection
The result: [therefore] I could not face the risk of seeing my sins as my own
responsibility. So [1.] having tried to clear my conscience by blaming others,
I [2.] turned on the afterburners and made myself busy with work and duty.
Or to use Luthers language, I was full of active righteousness. I looked to my
outward activity to feel good about myself, and judged others by my own active
standards.
The turning: But now I understood what Luther was talking about: In the
righteousness of faith we work nothing, we render nothing to God, but we only
receive and allow another to work in us. This is what he called a passive
righteousnessa righteousness that is credited to our account through faith. This
was Christs righteousness, bought with the price of his blood on the cross. This I
received by faith. The reason it had been so difficult for me to have a personal faith
in Christ was that I had not experienced total forgiveness. But I had now brought
real sinsincluding my attitudes of self-dependence and blame shiftingto a real
Savior, and they had been forgiven . . . How awesome it is to be loved
unconditionally by a holy, righteous God. 10
Rose Marie Miller, From Fear to Freedom
55
notes
ADOPTION IN CHRIST
PART III. LIVING OUT OUR ADOPTION

To live by faith is not a general positive attitude but a deliberate attempt to
fire the heart with a knowledge of who we are in Christ and to live consistently
with that. Packer concludes, Sonship, [therefore] must be the controlling
thoughtthe normative category, if you likeat every point. 11 Here are all the
responsibilities or duties of the Christian life recast and understood in terms of
sonship.
A. Responsibilities of adopted children

1. New motivation
If the love of a father will not make a child delight in him, what will?
John Owen, Communion with God 12
A perfect man would never act from sense of duty; hed always want the right
thing more than the wrong one. Duty is only a substitute for love (of God and of
other people) like a crutch which is a substitute for a [healthy] leg. Most of us need
the crutch at times; but of course it is idiotic to use the crutch when our own legs
(our own loves, tastes, habits, etc.) can do the journey on their own.
C. S. Lewis, Letters 13
2. Obedience
[The Sermon on the Mount] teaches Christian conduct, not by giving a full scheme
of rules and a detailed casuistry, to be followed with mechanical precision, but by
indicating in a broad and general way the spirit, direction, and objectives, the
guiding principles and ideals, by which the Christian must steer his course. It is
often noted that this is . . . quite different from the tax-consultant type of instruction
which was the stock-in-trade of Jewish lawyers and scribes in our Lords day. What
is less often noticed is that it is precisely the kind of moral instruction that parents
are constantly trying to give their childrenconcrete, imaginative, teaching general
principles from particular instances, and seeking all the time to bring the children to
appreciate and share the parents own attitudes and view of life. . . . [The] allembracing principles of conduct: [1] imitating the Father . . . (Matt. 5:44-45, 48) . . .
[2] glorifying the Father [bringing him honor and credit before others] (Matt. 5:16;
6:9) . . . [3] pleasing the Father . . . (Matt. 6:1).
56
ADOPTION IN CHRIST
notes
3. Family resemblance
Gospel holiness . . . was Puritan shorthand for authentic Christian living, springing
from love and gratitude to God, in contrast with the spurious legal holiness that
consisted merely of forms, routines and outward appearances, maintained from
self-regarding motives. . . . [Gospel holiness] is just a matter of the child of God
being true to type, [resembling the Father] . . . expressing ones adoption in ones
life. . . . While it is certainly true that justification frees one forever from the need to
keep the law . . . as the means of earning life, it is equally true that adoption
[obliges us] to keep the law, as the means of pleasing ones newfound Father.
Law-keeping [is transformed now; it is] the family likeness of Gods children. . . .
[Now] the sins of Gods children do not destroy their justification or nullify their
adoption, but they mar the childrens fellowship with [and their family likeness to]
their Father . . . .
4. Trust
All Christians are, in fact, called to a life of faith, in the sense of following Gods will
at whatever cost and trusting him for the consequences. But all are tempted . . . to
put status and security, in human terms, before loyalty to Gods call; and then, if
they resist this temptation, they are at once tempted to worry about the likely
effect of their stand. . . . On those thus tempted in the life of faith, Jesus brings the
truth of their adoption to bear. Do not be anxious for your life . . . [your heavenly
Father knows what you need] (Matt. 6:31-33).
5. Acceptance of discipline
In this world, royal children have to undergo extra training and discipline which
other children escape, in order to fit them for their high destiny. It is the same
with the children of the King of kings. The clue to understanding all his dealings
with them is to remember that throughout [their lives] he is training them for what
awaits them, and chiseling them into the image of Christ.
B. Privileges of adopted children
Here are all the privileges or blessings of the Christian life recast and
understood in terms of sonship.
57
notes
ADOPTION IN CHRIST
1. Assurance
Social experts drum into us these days that the family unit needs to be stable and
secure, and that any unsteadiness in the parent-child relationship takes its toll in
strain, neurosis, and arrested development in the child himself. The depressions,
randomnesses, and immaturities that mark children of broken homes are known to
us all. But . . . in Gods family . . . you have absolute stability and security. . . . The
very concept of adoption is itself a proof and guarantee of the preservation of the
saints, for only bad fathers throw their [children] out of the family, even under
provocation. . . . .
2. Prayer and intimacy

This is what prayer really means: knowing that we have a secure relationship with
God in which we can address him in the knowledge that he cares, and has the
power to aid us. . . . Jesus encourages us to pray simply. This distinguishes the
child of God from the hypocrite. The hypocrite is so unsure of his relationship with
God (and rightly so!) that he thinks of prayer in terms of its length and eloquence;
the child of God knows he is speaking to the Father, and talks simply and directly
. . . . Jesus also encourages us to pray boldly. . . . Boldness [which is] impudence in
a neighbor is the privilege of the children in the family.
3. Freedom and confidence

The parable of the prodigal son epitomizes the disposition of some Christians, even
when they are restored to fellowship with God. Lurking in their hearts there often
remains this sneaking suspicion: I am not worthy to be Gods son, but perhaps I
can struggle through as one of his hired servants [see Luke 15:19]. At the root of
such thinking is an inability to believe that salvation is entirely of Gods grace and
love. We contribute nothing to it; we can do nothing to earn it in any way. We are
often slow to realize the implications of that. We are sons, but we are [always] in
danger of having the mindset of hired servants. . . . The Devil . . . will try to produce
in us what our forefathers called a bondage frame of spirit. . . . [When Paul says
in Romans 8:15 that God sends us a Spirit of sonship rather than a spirit of fear,
he means] God sends his Spirit into our hearts, bringing us the deep spiritual and
psychological security that rests on the objective fact that . . . we belong to the Lord.
4. Fellowship and connection

We are to learn to accept and appreciate one another, no matter what natural
differences might separate us. . . . Rich and poor alike are to be treated as brothers.
. . . [We are to never give up on one anotherto both confront and forgive in
58
ADOPTION IN CHRIST
notes
proportions as great as required.] Such a mixture of discipline and forgiveness is

conceivable only within a family context. . . . No family finds failure easy to handle
. . . . [But]only when we realize that the church is a family, that we are brothers and
sisters in that family, will we have a right perspective from which to view those
who fail badly, and a right motive to see them disciplined faithfully, and welcomed
back with many reaffirmations of our love. . . . These . . . are all part of what it
means to keep on loving each other as brothers (Heb.13:1).
5. Inheritance
Adoption is incomplete in this world. John says that . . . we are Gods children, but
it does not yet appear what we shall be in the future . . . (1 John 3:1-3). Similarly,
Paul teaches that although we have already received the Spirit of adoption . . .
(Rom. 8:15), we are still waiting for the full experience of our sonship, for the
glorious freedom of the children of God (Rom. 8:21). The redemption of our
bodies, our adoption in all its glory, takes place at the final resurrection. Then . . .
the image [family resemblance] now under repair will be completed.
59
notes
ADOPTION IN CHRIST
DISCUSSION
1. Explain adoption in your own words.
2. What are some ways this truth (if grasped and lived) would change your life?
3. What was the most helpful or encouraging thing you read?
60
ADOPTION IN CHRIST
Sinclair B. Ferguson, Children of the Living God (Carlisle, Pa.: Banner of Truth Trust, 1989), pp. 5-6.
J. I. Packer, pp. 182, 186, 184.
J. I. Packer, p. 181.
Sinclair B. Ferguson, p. 36.
Francis Lyall, p. 83, cited by Ferguson, p. 25.
J. I. Packer, p. 183.
J. I. Packer, pp. 185-186.
Sinclair B. Ferguson, pp. 69-72.
D. M. Lloyd-Jones, Romans, Chapter 8:5-17 (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1975), pp. 240-243
notes
10 Rose Marie Miller, From Fear to Freedom (Colorado Springs, Colo.: Shaw Books, 1994), pp. 70-71.
11 J. I. Packer, p. 190.
12 John Owen, Communion with God (1657), cited by Ferguson, p. 29.
13 C. S. Lewis, letter dated 18 July, 1957 in Letters of C. S. Lewis, W. H. Lewis, ed. (New York:
Harcourt, Brace and World, 1966), p 277.
14 J. I. Packer, p. 191.
15 J. I. Packer, pp. 200-203.
16 J. I. Packer, p. 193.
17 J. I. Packer, p. 201.
18 J. I. Packer, p. 189.
19 Sinclair B. Ferguson, pp. 64, 66.
20 Sinclair B. Ferguson, pp. 69, 70, 72.
21 Sinclair B. Ferguson, pp. 59, 61-63.
22 Sinclair B. Ferguson, p. 38.
61
Galatians
Gospel-centered Ministry
The reason this letter was written to the Galatian churches was the appearance
of false teachers. Paul has been contrasting his teaching with their teaching, but
in this passage, he contrasts his ministry with their ministry. As a result, we get
insights into the way the gospel practically affects our relationships.

1. What kind of religion did the Greek Galatians have before they heard the
gospela biblical one or an idolatrous one? What kind of religion are they in
danger of turning to now? When Paul calls this prospective lapse a turning
back to idolatry, what are the implications of this characterization?
2. In verse 9 Paul says that they know God and then seems to correct himself and
says, or rather are known by God. Why does Paul add this correctionwhat
principle is he getting across? How is this an antidote for works righteousness?
62
notes
GOSPEL-CENTERED MINISTRY
3. What brought Paul to the Galatians? What does that teach us about suffering
and thwarted plans (see 2 Cor. 12:7-10)? Can you provide personal illustrations
of this from your own life?
4. How and why had the Galatians relationship with Paul changed (vv. 14-16)?
Why does Paul bring up this change?
5. In verses 16-17, 19-20, how does the goal of Pauls ministry differ from the
false teachers ministry? How does it differ in its means?
63
Study 8 | Gospel-centered Ministry
GOSPEL-CENTERED MINISTRY
notes
6. Read verses 12-14, 19-20. What other characteristics of healthy relationships

can you draw from these five verses? Does this characterize your small group
fellowship?
5. (vv.16-17, 19-20) How does Pauls ministry differ from the ministry of the false
teachers as to its goal and means?
6. (vv.12-14,19-20) What other characteristics of healthy relationships can you

draw from these five verses? Does this characterize your small group
fellowship?
64
Idols of the Heart

Study 8 | Exercise
Read and mark

A. THE DEFINITION OF IDOLS (WHAT THEY ARE)

Romans 1:25 tells us that idols are not sinful things, but good and basic things
elevated into becoming ultimate things (v. 25, worshiped . . . created things
rather than the Creator). We look to them for meaning in life. We trust them
to cover our sense of insignificance and rely on them for our righteousness
or worth.
An idol is anything in our lives that occupies the place that should be occupied by
God alone. Anything that . . . is central in my life, anything that seems to me . . .
essential . . . . An idol is anything by which I live and on which I depend, anything
that . . . holds such a controlling position in my life that . . . it moves and rouses and
attracts so much of my time and attention, my energy and money.
D. M. Lloyd-Jones, Idolatry in Life in God: Studies in 1 John 1
[Each person] acts as if God could not make him happy without the addition of
something else. Thus the glutton makes a god of his dainties; the ambitious man of
his honor; the incontinent man of his lust; the covetous man of his wealth; and
consequently esteems them as his chiefest good, and the most noble end to which
he directs his thoughts. . . . All men worship some golden calf, set up by education,
custom, natural inclination and the like. . . .When a general is taken, the army runs.
[Even so] this [the main idol] is the great stream, and other sins but rivulets
which bring supply . . . this is the strongest chain wherein the devil holds the man,
the main fort. . . .
Stephen Charnock, The Existence and Attributes of God 2
. . . That most basic question which God continually poses to each human heart:
Has something or someone besides Jesus the Christ taken title to your hearts
[functional] trust, preoccupation, loyalty, service, fear and delight?
[Questions can bring some of our idol systems to the surface: To whom or what
do you look for life-sustaining stability, security and acceptance? What do you really
want and expect out of life? What would really make you happy? What would make
you an acceptable person? Where do you look for power and success? These
questions or similar ones tease out whether we serve God or idols, whether we
look for salvation from Christ or from false saviors.]
. . . [This bears] on the immediate motivation of [my] behavior, thoughts, feelings. In
the Bibles conceptualization, the motivation question is the lordship question: who
or what rules my behavior, the Lord or a substitute?
David Powlison, Idols of the Heart and Vanity Fair 3
65
Study 8 | Exercise
IDOLS OF THE HEART
notes
B. THE EFFECTS OF IDOLS

1. Distorted thinking.
Romans 1:21 tells us that each idol creates a delusional field, a whole set of
assumptions and false definitions of success and failure that are distortions of
reality brought on by the idol (v. 21, their thinking became futile and their
foolish hearts were darkened).
[Your] idols define good and evil in ways contrary to Gods definitions. [They spin
out a whole false belief system.] They establish a locus of control that is earthbound: either in objects (e.g. lust for money), other people (e.g. I need to please
my critical father), or myself (e.g. self-trusting pursuit of my personal agenda).
Such false gods create false laws, false definitions of success and failure, of values
and stigma. Idols promise blessing and warn of curses for those who succeed or
fail [their [standards]. If I [make enough money], I will be secure. If I can get these
certain people to like and respect me, then my life is valid.
2. Emotional bondage.
Romans 1:25 tells us that each idol darkens the heart and enslaves us (v. 25,
worshiped and served created things). Whatever we worship we must serve.
The way the idol enslaves is by creating over-desires or inordinate longings.
Idols of the heart are graphically portrayed in Ezekiel 14:1-8. . . . If idolatry is
the characteristic and summary Old Testament word for our drift from God, then
lust [inordinate desires], epithumiai is the characteristic and summary New
Testament word for that same drift. (See such summary statements by Paul,
Peter, John, and James as Gal. 5:16ff; Eph. 2:3, 4:22; 1 Pet. 2:11, 4:2;
1 John 2:16; James 1:14ff, where epithumiai is the catchall for what is wrong
with us.) . . . The tenth commandment [against coveting, which is the idolatrous,
inordinate desire for something] also . . . mak[es] sin psychodynamic. It lays
bares the grasping and demanding nature of the human heart, as Paul powerfully
describes it in Romans 7. . . . The New Testament merges the concept of idolatry
and the concept of inordinate, life-ruling desires . . . for human lust, craving,
yearning and greedy demand [are specifically termed idolatry] (Ephesians 5:5
and Colossians 3:5).
3. The sin under every sin.
The Ten Commandments begin with two commandments against idolatry.

Then come commandments three to ten. Why this order? It is because the
fundamental problem is always idolatry. In other words, we never break
commandments three through ten without first breaking one and two.
66
notes
IDOLS OF THE HEART
A careful reading of the Old and New Testaments shows that idolatry is nothing like
the crude, simplistic picture that springs to mind of an idol sculpture in some distant
country. As the main category to describe unbelief, the idea is highly sophisticated,
drawing together the complexities of motivation in individual psychology, the social
environment, and also the unseen world. Idols are not just on pagan altars, but in
well-educated human hearts and minds (Ezekiel 14). The apostle Paul associates
the dynamics of human greed, lust, craving, and coveting with idolatry (Ephesians
5:5; Colossians 3:5). The Bible does not allow us to marginalize idolatry to the
fringes of life. . . . It is found on center stage.
Richard Keyes, The Idol Factory in No God But God 6
This means, then, that idolatry is always the reason we ever do anything
wrong. Why do we ever lie, or fail to love, keep promises, or live unselfishly?
Of course, the general answer is because we are weak and sinful, but the
specific answer is always that there is something besides Jesus Christ that you
feel you must have to be happy, something that is more important to your heart
than God, something that is spinning out a delusional field and enslaving your
heart through inordinate desires. The secret to change is always to identify the
idols of the heart. The Bible does not consider idolatry to be one sin among
many (and thus now a very rare sin existing only among primitive people).
Rather, the only alternative to true, full faith in the living God is idolatry. All our
failures to trust God wholly or to live rightly are due, at root, to idolatrywe
make something more important than God. There is always a reason for a sin.
Under our sins are idolatrous desires.
C. IDENTIFYING OUR IDOLS
67
1.
Every self exists in relation to values perceived as making life worth living. A
value is anything good in the created orderany idea, relation, object or person
in which one has an interest, from which one derives significance. . . .
2.
These values compete . . . In time, one is prone to choose a center of value

by which other values are judged . . . [which] comes to exercise power or
preeminence over other values.
3.
When a finite value has been elevated to centrality and imagined as a final
source of meaning, then one has chosen . . . a god. . . . One has a god when a
finite value is . . . viewed as that without which one cannot receive life
joyfully. . . . To be worshiped as a god, something must be sufficiently good
. . . . Were my daughter not a source of exceptional affection and delight, she
would not be a potential idolatry for me, but I am tempted to adore her in a
way [that is] . . . disproportional.
Study 8 | Exercise
IDOLS OF THE HEART
notes
Anxiety [Idolatry and the future]

[4.] Anxiety becomes neurotically intensified to the degree that I have idolized
finite values. . . . Suppose my god is sex or my own physical health or the
Democratic Party. If I experience any of these under genuine threat, then I
feel myself shaken to the depths.
Guilt/Bitterness [Idolatry and the past]
[5.] Guilt becomes neurotically intensified to the degree that I have idolized finite
values. . . . Suppose I value my ability to communicate clearly. . . . [If] clear
communication has become an absolute value for me, a center of value that
makes all my other values valuable . . . then if I [fail in teaching well] I may
be stricken with neurotic guilt.
[6.] [Bitterness becomes neurotically intensified when someone or something
stands between me and something that is my ultimate value.]
Boredom/Emptiness [Idolatry and the present]
[7.] To be bored is to feel empty, [meaningless.] . . . Boredom is an
anticipatory form of being dead. . . . To the extent to which limited values
are exalted to idolatries [when any of those values are lost] . . . boredom
becomes pathological and compulsive. . . . My subjectively experienced
boredom may then become infinitely projected toward the whole cosmos
. . . . This picture of the self is called despair. [The milder forms are
disappointment, disillusionment, cynicism.]
Thomas C. Oden, Two Worlds: Notes on the Death of
Modernity in America and Russia 7
Answer the following
a. If you are angry, ask: Is there something too important to me?

Something I am telling myself I have to have? Is that why I am
angrybecause I am being blocked from having something I consider
a necessity when it is not? Write down what that might be.
b. If you are fearful or badly worried, ask: Is there something too
important to me? Something I am telling myself I have to have? Is
that why I am so scaredbecause something is being threatened
that I see as a necessity when it is not? Write down what that
might be.
c. If you are despondent or hating yourself, ask: Is there something too
important to me? Something I am telling myself I have to have? Is
that why I am so downbecause I have lost or failed at something
I see as a necessity when it is not? Write down what that might be.
68
notes
IDOLS OF THE HEART
Circle the thoughts that are lodged in your heart.
Power idolatry: Life only has meaning /I only have worth if I have power and
influence over others.
Approval idolatry: Life only has meaning /I only have worth if I am loved and
respected by _______________.
Comfort idolatry: Life only has meaning /I only have worth if I have this kind of
pleasure experience, a particular quality of life.
Image idolatry: Life only has meaning /I only have worth if I have a particular
kind of look or body image.
Control idolatry: Life only has meaning /I only have worth if I am able to get
mastery over my life in the area of ___________________.
Helping idolatry: Life only has meaning /I only have worth if people are
dependent on me and need me.
Dependence idolatry: Life only has meaning /I only have worth if someone is
there to protect me and keep me safe.
Independence idolatry: Life only has meaning /I only have worth if I am
completely free from obligations or responsibilities to take care of someone.
Work idolatry: Life only has meaning /I only have worth if I am highly
productive getting a lot done.
Achievement idolatry: Life only has meaning /I only have worth if I am
recognized for my accomplishments, excelling in my career.
Materialism idolatry: Life only has meaning /I only have worth if I have a
certain level of wealth, financial freedom, and very nice possessions.
Religion idolatry: Life only has meaning /I only have worth if I am adhering to
my religions moral codes and accomplished in its activities.
Individual person idolatry: Life only has meaning/ I only have worth if this one
person is in my life and happy there, and/or happy with me.
Irreligion idolatry: Life only has meaning /I only have worth if I am totally
independent of organized religion with a self-made morality.
Racial/cultural idolatry: Life only has meaning /I only have worth if my race and
culture are ascendant and recognized as superior.
Inner ring idolatry: Life only has meaning /I only have worth if a particular
social, professional, or other grouping lets me in.
Family idolatry: Life only has meaning /I only have worth if my children and/or
my parents are happyand happy with me.
Relationship idolatry: Life only has meaning /I only have worth if Mr. or Ms.
Right is in love with me.
69
Study 8 | Exercise
IDOLS OF THE HEART
notes
Suffering idolatry: Life only has meaning /I only have worth if I am hurting or
troubled by a problem. Only then do I feel noble or worthy of love and able to
deal with guilt.
Ideology idolatry: Life only has meaning /I only have worth if my political or
social cause or party is making progress, ascending in influence or power.
Answer these diagnostic questions
a. What is my greatest nightmare? What do I worry about most?
b. What, if I failed or lost it, would cause me to feel that I did not even
want to live? What keeps me going?
c. What do I rely on or comfort myself with when things go bad or get

difficult?
d. What do I think most easily about? Where does my mind go when I

am free? What preoccupies me?
70
notes
IDOLS OF THE HEART
e. What unanswered prayer would make me seriously consider turning

away from God?
f. What gives me the most self-worth? Of what am I most proud?
g. What do I really want and expect out of life? What would really make
me happy?
Summary
Now that youve answered the questions above, look for common themes.
Write down what you think are your functional masters. What things tend to
be too important to you?
E. HEALING IDOLATRY WITH THE GOSPEL

1. Avoid the moralizing approach.
A typical approach to personal change among orthodox and conservative

Christians can best be called the moralizing approach. Its basic analysis:
Your problem is that you are doing wrong. Repent! This focuses on behavior
but doesnt go deep enough. We must find out the why of our behavior. Why
do I want to do the wrong things? What inordinate desires are drawing me to
do so? What are the idols and false beliefs behind them? To simply tell an
unhappy person (or yourself) to repent and change your behavior is
insufficient because the lack of self-control is coming from a belief that says,
Even if you live up to moral standards, you are still a failure if you dont have
this. You must replace this belief through repentance for the one sin under it
all your particular idolatry.
71
Study 8 | Exercise
IDOLS OF THE HEART
notes
2. Avoid the psychologizing approach.
A typical approach to personal change among more liberal religious groups can
best be called the psychologizing approach. Its basic analysis: Your problem
is that you dont see that God loves you as you are. Rejoice! This focuses on
feelings, which seem to be deeper than behaviorbut this approach also
fails to go deep enough. We must also find out the why of our feelings. Why
do I have such strong feelings of despair (or fear, or anger) when this or that
happens? What are the inordinate desires that are being frustrated? What are
the idols and false beliefs behind them? To simply tell an unhappy person (or
yourself) God loves yourejoice! is insufficient, because the unhappiness is
coming from a belief that says, Even if God loves you, you are still a failure if
you dont have this. You must replace this belief through repentance for the
one sin under it allyour particular idolatry.
3. Adopt the gospel approach.
Its basic analysis: Your problem is that you are looking to something besides
Christ for your happiness. Repent and rejoice! This approach confronts a person
with the real sin beneath the sins and behind the bad feelings. Our problem is
that we have given ourselves over to idols. Every idol system is a way of
salvation-by-works and thus it keeps us under the law of our own making.
Paul tells us that the bondage to sin is broken when we come out from under
the lawwhen we begin to believe the gospel of salvation-by-Christs-work.
Only when we realize in a new way that we are righteous in Christ is the idols
power over us broken. Sin shall not be your master, because you are not
under law, but under grace (Rom. 6:14). You will only be under grace and
free from the controlling effects of idols to the degree that you have (1)
repented of your idols, and (2) rested and rejoiced in the saving work and love
of Christ instead. As Richard Lovelace explains:
The faith that . . . is able to warm itself at the fire of Gods love, instead of having to
steal love and self-acceptance from other sources, is actually the root of holiness. . . .
It is often said today, in circles which blend popular psychology with Christianity,
that we must love ourselves before we can be set free to love others. . . . But no
realistic human beings find it easy to love or forgive themselves, and hence their
self-acceptance must be grounded in their awareness that God accepts them in
Christ. There is a sense in which the strongest self-love that we can have . . . is
merely the mirror image of the lively conviction we have that God loves us. . . .
Moralism, whether it takes the form of denunciation or pep talks, can ultimately
only create awareness of sin and guilt or manufactured virtues built on will power. . . .
We all automatically gravitate toward the assumption that we are justified by our
level of sanctification, and when this posture is adopted it inevitably focuses our
attention not on Christ but on the adequacy of our own obedience. We start each
day with our personal security resting not on the accepting love of God and the
sacrifice of Christ but on our present feelings or recent achievements in the
Christian life. Since these arguments will not quiet the human conscience, we are
inevitably moved either to discouragement and apathy or to a self-righteousness
[some form of idolatry] which falsifies the record to achieve a sense of peace. 8
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IDOLS OF THE HEART
DISCUSSION
2. What questions were raised?
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IDOLS OF THE HEART
notes
1 D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Life in God: Studies in 1 John (Wheaton, Ill.: Crossway, 1995), pp. 196ff.
2 Stephen Charnock, The Existence and Attributes of God, Vol. 1, On Practical Atheism (Grand
Rapids: Baker Book House reprint, 1979), p. 143.
3 David Powlison, Idols of the Heart and Vanity Fair, Journal of Biblical Counseling, Vol. 13, No. 2,
Winter 1995, p. 35.
4 David Powlison, p. 42.
5 David Powlison, p. 36.
6 Richard Keyes, The Idol Factory in No God But God, Os Guinness and John Seel, eds. (Chicago:
Moody Press, 1992), p. 31.
7 Thomas C. Oden, Two Worlds: Notes on the Death of Modernity in America and Russia (Downers
Grove, Ill: InterVarsity Press, 1992), pp. 94-104.
8 Richard F. Lovelace, pp. 211-212, 214.
74
Galatians
Grace to the Barren

Paul has taught the formerly pagan Galatian Christians that they were fully
children of Abraham the moment they believed in Christ (3:7; 4:7). The false
teachers, on the other hand, taught the Galatians that they had to submit to all
the Mosaic legislation, including circumcision, in order to be children of
Abraham. Now Paul uses the illustration of Abrahams two sonsIshmael and
Isaacto make his point in a final, dramatic way. The basic teaching is that the
gospel not only makes absolutely anyone a child of God, but that the most proud,
moral, and religiously able often are the ones left out of Gods family. The
gospel reverses the worlds values.

1. In verse 21, what does it mean to want to be under the law? (Compare with
4:4-5 and 5:16-20.)
2. Why do you think Paul can say that those under the law dont really listen to
what the law says?
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GRACE TO THE BARREN
3. Read the story behind this passage in Genesis 16:1-4; 18:10-14; 21:1-10.
How were the births of these two sons different (v. 23)?
4. What does Paul say each birth/mother represents (vv. 24-26)? Why?
5. The residents of Jerusalem would regard Sarah as their mother and Hagar as
the mother of the Gentiles. Why does Paul reverse things? How does this
bolster his argument in 3:7 and 4:7-9?
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Study 9 | Grace to the Barren
GRACE TO THE BARREN
notes
6. Read verse 27. What does Paul imply by quoting Isaiah 54:1? How does Sarah
serve as an encouraging picture to all who consider themselves to have failed
or been disappointed?
7. Take what youve learned in this passage and answer these questions: Why do
religious people need the gospel? Why do irreligious people need the gospel?
Why do religious people persecute the gospel-bearers?
77
Gospel Forgiveness
Study 9 | Exercise
Read and mark

Introduction: In Galatians 4:12-20, the forgiveness Paul extends to the Galatians
for their betrayal of him is so automatic that we hardly notice it. It is only
because his appeal to them (as strong as it is) is so affectionate and free from
resentment that we realize the strength of Pauls forgiving spirit. Later he
cautions the Galatians against a growing spirit of resentment and backbiting
(Gal. 5:15). The more they lose touch with the gospel, the more resentments
and grudges will grow.
Below is a guide on how the gospel helps us reconcile our relationships with a
balance of truth and love. (At times you can see that this project has been used
in seminars for married couples, but the principles apply to all relationships.)
A. THE RESOURCES FOR FORGIVENESS

1. We need enough humility.
Jesus ties our ability to forgive to our ability to repent. (Forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors, Matt. 6:12.) This doesnt mean that God
forgives our sins because we forgive others. It means that in general we are as
forgiven by God as we are forgiving to othersbecause unforgiving people are
unrepentant people. The more we hold grudges, the less we see ourselves as
having done wrong and needing forgiveness; the more we see ourselves as
needing forgiveness, the more likely we are to forgive others. Why?
Resentment requires a person to sit in the position of judge (Rom.12:19-20).
We can only hold grudges if we feel superior to the other person. Jesus bluntly
tells us that if we hold a grudge against another person, we are ignorant of how
much we owe God. So the first thing we have to see is our own need for
forgiveness. We need enough humility to forgive.
Transition: But this is not enough! Because though pride is one reason we
cannot forgive, emotional insecurity is another. So, in addition:
2. We need enough emotional wealth.
Why is it that we can forgive some wrongs easily but not others? It is because
everyone draws a sense of self-worth (a sense that we are worthy of love and
respect) from certain objects. People cannot validate themselves. We all look
to certain ones or things to convince us that we are significant. The more
certain we are of this, the more emotionally wealthy we areconfident,
poised, at peace. What are the things we look to? Steven Covey calls them
personal centers and Victor Frankl calls them our meaning centers. They
may be career, possessions, appearance, romance, peer groups, achievement,
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GOSPEL FORGIVENESS
notes
good causes, moral character, religion, marriage, children, friendshipsor a

combination of several. However, this means that we believe we absolutely
must have these things or we face emotional bankruptcy and death. All our
most powerful feelings are connected to them. We respond in deep guilt if we
fail to attain them, or in deep anger if someone blocks us from them, or in deep
anxiety if they are threatened, or in major drivenness since we must have
them, or in despair if we ever lose them completely.
For example, a husband and wife discovered that a school teacher had been
emotionally abusive to their daughter, ruining her academic year and
necessitating counseling. They are both angry at the teacher but the husband
has less trouble getting past the anger than the wife. Why? Is the husband a
less angry person? No, in general he tends to be more angry temperamentally.
Does he love his daughter less? No. The issue is that the wife has tied her own
self-image and sense of self-worth to her daughters progress and happiness,
while the husband does this with his career. As a result, the wifes anger is far
deeper since she is going bankrupt. She feels, If my daughter doesnt turn
out well, what good am I? So her anger toward the teacher is powerful.
Summary: Ironically, it can be a sense of superiority or a sense of inferiority that
makes it hard to forgive. Paradoxically, the two often go together. We often
deal with our inferiority and insecurity by taking a superior, judgmental position
toward someone else.
3. The character of forgiveness.

A definition. What is forgiveness, specifically? When people wrong you, it
means they owe you; they have a debt with you that they should repay.
But when you forgive, you absorb the cost of that debt yourself. You pay the
price yourself and refuse to exact the price out of those who wronged you.
Forgiveness means to (a) free the person from the penalty for sin by (b) paying
the price yourself.
The ultimate example. We are told that our forgiveness must imitate Gods
forgiveness in Christ. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving
each other, just as in Christ God forgave you (Eph. 4:32). (a) How did God
forgive? We are told that he does not remember our sins. That cannot mean
that God literally forgets what happened; rather, it means he sends away the
penalty. He does not bring the incidents to mind or let them affect the way he
deals with us. (b) How did God forgive in Christ? We are told that Jesus pays
the price for the sins. It is finished means It has been paid in full (John
19:30). The Father gave up his Son, and the Son gave up his life. God absorbed
the cost within himself.
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B. PRACTICAL STEPS FOR FORGIVENESS

1. Distinguish between granting and feeling.
Realize that forgiveness is granted (often for a long time) before it is felt.
Forgiveness is granted first and felt later (Luke 17:3-10). It is not primarily a
feeling but a set of actions and disciplines. In summary, forgiveness is a
promise not to exact the price of the sin from the person who wronged you.
This promise involves a repeated set of payments in which you relinquish
revenge. It is hard and (for awhile) constant. However, if this promise is kept
actively, eventually the feeling of anger subsides. It is critical to realize at the
outset, then, that forgiveness is not the forcing or denying of feelings, but a
promise to make and to keep despite our feelings.
2. Determine to never exact the price, but to pay the price yourself.
Dan Hamilton writes:

[Forgiveness] deals with our emotions [by] sending them awayto deny ourselves
the dark pleasures of venting [them] or fondling them in our minds.
Once upon a time, I was engaged to a young woman who changed her mind. I
forgave her, but [only] . . . in small sums over a year, whenever I spoke with her
and refrained from rehashing the past . . . whenever I saw her with another man . . .
when I had to renounce jealousy and self-pity, when . . . I praised her though I
wanted to slice away at her reputation. Those were the paymentsbut she never
saw them. And her own payments were unseen by me . . . but I do know that she
forgave me . . . . [Forgiveness] is more than a matter of refusing to hate someone.
It is also a matter of choosing to demonstrate love and acceptance to the offender
. . . . Pain is the consequence of sin; there is no easy way to deal with it. Wood,
nails and pain are the currency of forgiveness, the love that heals. 1
3. Take two inventories: ways to exact the price; ways to pay the price.
Dan Hamiltons quote shows us that there are numerous ways we can
exact and take payment from the offender, but each time we refrain, we are
absorbing the cost ourselves and making payments. Below are ways in which
we often try to exact payments.
a. In our dealing with the offenders
1. We can make cutting remarks and drag out the past.
2. We can be far more demanding and controlling with the
offenders than we are with others, all because they owe us.
3. We can punish with self-righteous mercy, which makes them
feel small.
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GOSPEL FORGIVENESS
notes
4. We can avoid them or be cold to them in overt and/or subtle

ways.
5. We can actively seek and scheme to hurt or harm them, taking
from them something they value.
b. In our dealing with others
1. We can run the offenders down to others under the guise of
warning people about them.
2. We can run them down to others under the guise of seeking
sympathy and sharing our hurt.
c. In our dealing with ourselves
1. We can replay the tapes of what they did to us to justify our
anger and hostility.
2. We can root for their failure, fall, or pain.
Forgiveness is a promise to not bring the matter up to the person, to others,
or even to ourselves. Whenever we are tempted to exact payment from the
person, we refuse and, though it hurts, that is a payment we are making.
a. With the person
In our dealings with the person, we are as courteous and warm as
possible. If the person is repentant, we seek to restore the
relationship as much as possible. Why say as much as possible?
If the person has done grievous wrong, it may mean that trust can
only be restored in degrees. If the person is continuing in a hostile
manner, you must not make it easy for him or her to sin against you.
And there are other circumstances. (For example, if the person is a
former love interest, it may be inappropriate to re-create the same
relationship.)
The speed and degree of this restoration hinges on the re-creation
of trust. That takes time, depending on the nature and severity of
the offenses involved. Part of real repentance usually means asking,
What could I do that would allow you to trust me? and being
willing to accept the answer. Part of real forgiveness means being
open to the possibility of lasting change in the offender and being
truly unbiased and willing to offer more trust, little by little.
b. With others
We must not criticize the offender to others. When seeking support
for our burdens (Gal. 6:1-6), we should not use them as a way to
get others to agree on how horrible the other person is! We must be
reasonable. This is not to say that you can never say anything that
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GOSPEL FORGIVENESS
casts a bad light on someone, but you must watch your motives. If
the person stays in a hostile, unrepentant mode, it may be necessary
to warn someone about him or her but, again, motives must be
watched.
c. With yourself
What does it mean to not bring it up to yourself? It means not to
dwell on it in your heart and not to replay the videotapes of the
wrong in your imagination, which keeps the sense of loss and hurt
fresh and real to you. It means that, when you are ready to do so,
you should pray for the person and yourself, remind yourself of the
cross (see below) and turn your mind to other things.
4. Will the good of the other, not only for his/her sake but also for yours!
Notice that on the cross Jesus says, Father, forgive them, for they do not
know what they are doing (Luke 23:34). He doesnt actually say, I forgive
you. He does forgive, of course, but by turning to the Father and praying for
them, he shows us an important method of forgiveness. He admits that they
are sinning (otherwise they would not need forgiveness!) but he sees them as
needy and weak (they do not know). He seeks their enlightenment and
forgiveness from God. He prays for them.
When we identify evil too closely with the evildoer, we get pulled into the
same cycle of hurt pride, revenge, and self-absorption and then more hurt pride
and more revenge. The secret to overcoming evil is for us to see evil as
something above and distinct from the evildoer. When we do that, there are
two results: (1) The spread of evil is checked toward us. Its hatred and pride do
not infect us. Consider this: The only way to truly beat the ill will of another
is to forgive him/her. Why? If you dont, you are still being controlled by the
other person. Even if you are reacting against the offender, you are still being
dominated and affected by that person. (2) The spread of evil may be checked
in the evildoer. He or she may be softened and helped by our love. We dont
know that for certain, but it is virtually the only way that can happen. This is,
then, an act of the will. We determine to wish the person good and to will his
or her growth and healing. We determine to pray for him or her.
Note: It needs to be said here that, in general, it is unloving to let another
person go around sinning and doing wrong. Forgiveness does not therefore
mean that you cannot criticize, oppose, or contend against continued
destructive behavior. Forgiveness that turns away from confrontation isnt
loving at allit is self-serving. The ordinary approach is to (a) stay angry inside
(exact payment) and (b) say nothing on the outside. That lets evil spread in both
your life and the life of the other person. Instead, the right thing to do is (a)
completely forgive inside (make payment) and (b) confront lovingly on the
outside. That checks the spread of evil all around. Also, it is impossible to speak
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notes
lovingly and winsomely to a person doing wrong unless you have gotten control
of your anger through the steps of forgiveness. The model for this is Christ, of
course, who spoke out enough to get crucified but who forgave his crucifiers
every step of the way. The result of his perfect conformity to this model was
the triumph of grace, both in his life and in that of his crucifiers.
D. PRE-CONDITIONS FOR FORGIVENESS

1. Getting humility.
The Bible is explicit in telling us to forgive as in Christ God forgave you (Eph.
4:32). There is no better way to get the humility necessary for forgiveness than
to accept what the gospel says about us. It tells us that we were made by God
and therefore owe him everythingwe owe it to him to put him first in our life.
Even religious people ordinarily relate to God only when they need him in times
of trouble. None of us love him as we oughtwith all our heart, soul, strength
and mind. Jesus himself shows us vividly how to do this in Matthew 18:21-35.
When Peter asks about forgiveness, Jesus tells the parable of a servant who is
forgiven a debt of an infinite sum (10,000 talents, roughly equivalent to
$300,000,000) but who then refuses to forgive a debt owed to him of a few
dollars. Jesus calls the servant wicked and says, in effect, to him, Shouldnt
you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?(18:33). This
is a challenge to us. We must compare our debt to God with peoples debts to
us AND we are to compare Christs payment for our forgiveness to our
payment for their forgiveness. We are to say, Lord, you did not exact payment
for my debts from me. Instead, Jesus paid for them with his life. What right do
I have to exact payments for their debts to me? For me to forgive would not
take a payment anything like Christs payment!
In Romans 12 Paul shows us another way to think about resentment and
forgiveness. He says, Leave room for Gods wrath, for it is written: It is
mine to avenge . . . says the Lord (v.19). We are being reminded that all
resentment and vengeance is taking on Gods role as judge. It is playing God.
But (1) only God is qualified to be judge (we are imperfect and deserve
judgment ourselves) and (2) only God knows enough to be judge (we dont
know all about what the offender has faced and deserves) and (3) Jesus took
the judgment of God. So Paul is saying, Think of this! Either the persons you
are angry with will repent some day and Jesus will take their judgment, or they
will not repent and God will deal with them. But in either process, you are not
involved. Pride wont allow forgiveness; forgiveness wont allow pride. If you
cannot forgive, it is because you are sure you are not as sinful as the person
you are mad at.
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GOSPEL FORGIVENESS
2. Getting emotional wealth.
Anger is the result of love. It is energy for the defense of something you love
when it is threatened. If you dont love something, you wont get angry when it
is threatened. If you love something a little, you will get a little angry when it is
threatened. If something you love is an ultimate concern, something that
gives you meaning in life, then you will get uncontrollably angry when it is
threatened.
When anything in life is an absolute requirement for your happiness and selfworth, it is essentially an idol, something you are actually worshiping. When
such a thing is threatened, your anger is absolute. Your anger is actually the
way the idol keeps you in its service, in its chains. Therefore, if you find that
your anger and bitterness cannot subside despite all efforts to forgive, you may
need to look deeper and ask, What am I defending? What is so important that
I cannot live without it? It may be that, until some inordinate desire is
identified and confronted, you will not be able to master your anger.
Here is an example. A woman in her late thirties had never married. Her family
and her part of the country believed that there was something radically wrong
with any woman her age who was still single. She wrestled greatly with shame
and unworthiness and she had an enormous amount of unresolved anger
against a man she had dated for years but who had not married her. She went
to a counselor. The therapist rightly told her that she had taken to heart her
familys approach to personal value and worth. They taught that a womans life
had to include a husband and children to have any value or worth. She was
bitter against this man only because he had come between her and the thing
she felt she needed to have value. The counselor proposed that she throw off
such an unenlightened view and throw herself into a career.
About this time she was going to a church where she was clearly hearing the
gospel for the first time. She heard that the gospel is not that we live a worthy
life and then give it to God so that he owes us. Rather, Jesus Christ has already
lived a worthy life (he lived the life we should have lived and died the death we
should have died) and he gives it to us when we believe. We are then
completely accepted and loved by the only One in the universe who counts.
This gives us the ultimate emotional wealth, a sense of being loved that is so
deep that we can afford to forgive anyone. The woman realized that the wellmeaning counselor was asking her to throw off a politically incorrect system of
works righteousness for a politically correct one! She said, Why should I leave
the ranks of the many women who make family their worth and value to join
the ranks of the many men who make career the same thing? Would I not be
as devastated then by career setbacks as I have been by romantic ones? No. I
will receive the righteousness of Christ and learn to rejoice in it. Then I can look
at men or career and say, What makes me beautiful to God is Jesus, not these
things. Only then will I have power, freedom, and power to forgive. She had
found the pre-conditions for forgiveness.
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notes
Note: One of the most common idols we can have is our spouse. We may
need his or her approval and respect in idolatrous wayswe may look to him
or her to be a savior, the source of our self-worth. No human being can bear
that pressure, however. Your spouse is a finite human being with limitations.
He or she cannot love you consistently. And if you try to get from your spouse
what only the Lord can give, you will be locked in a vicious cycle. You will be
unable to forgive your spouse for his/her failures unless you find a Spouse
whose love is perfectand whose forgiveness is perfect too.
E. STEPS FOR REPENTANCE

Why wait until now to talk about repentance? And why give it so little space?
Repentance and forgiveness are really different ways of looking at the same
thing. We could just as easily have spent the lions share of this essay on
repentance and then added a note on forgiveness. The two things are the same
in the following ways: (1) The pre-conditions are identical. (Both are blocked by
pride and emotional bankruptcy. Both require humility and emotional wealth.)
(2) The character is identical. (Both are ways of saying, I am willing to absorb the
cost of what I have done.) (3) Even the steps are nearly the same (see below).
1. An honest admission of your part of the wrong. Maybe in the disagreement
you are only ten percent wrong, or thirty percent or eighty percent. Just
confess your part without any blame-shifting or excuses. Even if the other
person believes you are more guilty than you think you are, admit the truth.
Only offer to analyze and describe the part of the mess you are responsible for.
2. Make no excuses. Do not explain your wrong away in blame-shifting. Treat the
other triggering factors as occasions, not causes. Your own selfishness or

insensitivity, etc., was the real cause; what others did to you only caused those
sins to be expressed in sinful outward behavior. If you dont do this, your
repentance can actually be a way to not repent at all!
3. Be willing to listen to a realistic account of what your wrong cost the other.
It is possible to use repentance to say shut up to another person. How?

(a) If your repentance is very dramatic and emotional, you are saying, Look at
how bad I feel! Dont tell me anything more about how I made you feel! or
even Look at how bad I feel! Dont you want to take back what you said?
(b) If your repentance is quick and analytical, it may make the other person feel
that she or he cannot share what he/she was feeling. It can be a way to say,
Im not interested in hearing how you feel at all.
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GOSPEL FORGIVENESS
4. Provide fruits of repentance rather than just an expression of sorrow.
Offer to make changes that would restore or compensate in some way for
the damage done. Offer to make changes in behavior that would make it very
unlikely for the incident at issue to happen again. If you cant do this, the other
person has the right to think you havent repented.
If competent repentance and competent forgiveness coincide, the experience
can be a joyful revival of the relationship. It is a bit like a conversion experience,
with the reality and sweetness of the relationship appreciated in new ways.
You see the relationship as a gift and you find new emotional wealth, since the
other persons love points you to the forgiving Lord himself. But if the other
person is not repenting, you (a) should still forgive, since it is the only way to
keep evil from spreading in you both (see above) and you (b) can still forgive if
you meet the pre-conditions (see above).
DISCUSSION
2. What questions were raised?
3. Where will you start using what youve learned?
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Study 9 | Exercise
GOSPEL FORGIVENESS
notes
1 Dan Hamilton, Forgiveness (Downers Grove, Ill.: InterVarsity Press, 1980), pp. 7, 10-11, 13.
87
Galatians
Gospel Freedom
In 5:1, Paul reintroduces the idea of Christian freedom, which he mentioned

earlier in Galatians 2:4. The concept of Christian freedom is easy to
misunderstand. Paul says we are free from the supervision of the law (3:25)
and no longer under the law (5:18). But does that mean we are free to disobey
or disregard it? If not, of what does this freedom consist? Paul answers this
indirectly in 5:2-6 and directly in 5:13-15.

1. The thesis of Pauls last chapters is stated in 5:1. What does Paul teach in these
two sentences?
2. What is Paul warning the Galatians against in verses 5:2-4? Is Paul saying that
the Galatians who are real Christians are going to lose their salvation (v. 4)?
(How does verse 10 shed light on verse 4?)
3. Why do you think Paul would say we hope for righteousness (v. 5) when in
3:6 and elsewhere he says we have righteousness? How can we wait for it
practically?
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GOSPEL FREEDOM
4. What does it mean that the gospel makes both circumcision and
uncircumcision (religion and irreligion) equally valueless (vv. 5-6)?
5. From verses 5:13-15 answer the question, Why does a Christian obey God?
6. Compare verse 5:1 and verse 5:13. What two different misuses of gospel
freedom does Paul spell out? What errors in thinking are behind each misuse?
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GOSPEL FREEDOM
notes
7. Summarize: In what ways are Christians free from the law and in what ways
are they not?
8. Think of one area of your life where you need a lot more love than you have in
order to face something or to act rightly. How can Galatians 5:5-6 help you?
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Son or Slave?
Study 10 | Exercise
Read and mark

THE DYNAMIC OF CHRISTIAN GROWTH

There is a two-part dynamic to Christian growth. (It is, in a sense, a
combustion cycle. If it is ignited in the heart, it results in dynamic character
growth.) The two parts are a negative and a positive. We see them
mentioned many places.
Colossians 3
v. 1: Set your hearts on belongs

things above, where Christ
is seated . . . who is your life. . . .
v. 5: Put to death whatever

belongs to your earthly
nature which is idolatry
Hebrews 12
v. 2: Let us fix our eyes on Jesus,

the author and perfecter of
our faith, [who] . . . sat down at the
right hand of . . . God.
v. 1: Let us throw off

everything that hinders and
the sin that so easily
entangles
Romans 8
v. 5: their minds set on

what the Spirit desires . . .
(v.14) those who are led by the
Spirit of God are sons of God.
v. 13: by the Spirit you put

to death the misdeeds of the
body you will live
Galatians 5
v. 25: Since we live by the

Spirit, let us keep in step with
the Spirit.
v. 24: Those who belong to

Christ Jesus have crucified
the sinful nature with its
passions and desires.
The negative side (in the right column) is repentance: to discover the
particular idolatries of the heart (Col. 3:5), our besetting sins (Heb.12:1), and
uproot them at the motivational level (Rom. 8:13). The positive side (in the
left column) is faith: to see ourselves as perfect in Christ (Col. 3:1), who has
done from first to last all that was required for our acceptance (Heb. 12:2), so
that we could be adopted as sons and daughters of God (Rom. 8:14). This is the
dynamic: (a) we uproot the idols of the heart and (b) we live out of our identity as
children of God.
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SON OR SLAVE?
notes
These two elements are two sides of the same coin. As we begin with one,
we find that we wind up doing the other as well. Each stimulates the other; if
either one is de-emphasized, it robs the other of power as well. How? On the
one hand, without the knowledge of our extreme sin and idolatry, Christs
payment on the cross seems trivial and its message does not electrify or
transform. On the other hand, without the knowledge of our complete
acceptance and adoption through Christ, the message of our sin would crush
us so that we would deny or repress it. But the more you know of Gods
infallible, fatherly love, the more you can realistically face your flaws and faults.
And the more you see your sin, the more precious and valuable do you find his
saving love and grace.
In this exercise we will look at how to live as a child of God.
SON OR SLAVE?
Galatians 4:5-9 tells us:
1. When we became Christians, we receive[d] the full rights of sons
[lit. the sonship] (Gal. 4:4-5). We became sons of God.
2. Before we were slaves, but that is true no longer. So you are no
longer a slave, but a son (Gal. 4:7).
3. Nevertheless it is possible, even if you are a Christian, to return to
some degree into a state of slavery, and to lose your sonship
consciousness. Formerly . . . you were slaves. . . . Do you wish to
be enslaved . . . all over again? (Gal. 4:8-9). (See also Romans 8:15:
You did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to
fear. . . .) It is possible to fall back into fear/slavery though we
are in fact children of God.
Therefore, the two fundamentally different ways to live are not as religious or
as irreligious, but (a) as a slave, full of fear, or (b) as a child of God, full of faith
working through love.
Son and Slave compared
Both Galatians 4:1-7 and Romans 8:15-16 contrast slavery with sonship.
Two different understandings: False vs. true definitions
Slave: Grace is Gods supplemental help as you try hard to live a good life
(see faith).
Child: Grace is Gods unmerited work in your life to renew you into the likeness
of Christ.
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SON OR SLAVE?
Slave: Faith is an effort to believe without doubting and love God so that he
will accept you.

Child: Faith is the discipline of remembering and living as an accepted child of
God.
Slave: Obedience is avoiding major sin and following rules of ethical behavior.
Child: Obedience is primarily growth in the fruit of the Spirit and Christ-like
character.
Two different life patterns: Fear-based life vs. faith working through love
Slave: Compulsive obedience. Obeys God and moral codes out of fear of
rejection; a compulsive, driven moralism. Drivenness in work. Unrealistic

goals. Lots of self-criticism.
Child: Obeys out of joy in your Father and out of gratitude for the certainty of
his love. How can I live ungratefully before One who will never reject me?
Slave: Hiding. Lots of strategies to hide inner and outer failings from ourselves
and one another. Lots of gossip, blame-shifting, anger at other races/classes,

defensiveness.
Child: Open and transparent. Freedom from having to put up a front. Able to
appreciate people who are different and hurting. Repentance to others is more
natural, done with joy.
Slave: Isolation. Feeling that no one understands or cares. An unwillingness to
trust or intense, idolatrous trust of someone who inevitably lets you down.
Child: Because of openness, transparency and a lack of self-absorbed self-pity,
a growing circle of friends with whom you are neither too independent nor
over-dependent.
Slave: Controlled by peoples opinion. Expectations and approval of others
become the real moral standard. When we get away from other Christians, we
lapse.
Child: Integrity and courage regardless of who is watching. The only person
whose opinion counts is my Father! Who cares what the rest think?
Slave: Despair in troubles. Sees troubles as pay-backs from God. A slave in
trouble either is filled with guilt (because you feel you deserve it) or bitterness
(because you feel you dont!).
Child: Sees trouble as the wisdom of the Father. You know God wont give you
what you deserve (so you arent guilty) but you deserve far worse than you will
ever get (so you arent bitter).
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Study 10 | Exercise
SON OR SLAVE?
notes
Slave: Begrudging repentance. Admitting failure is destructive to ones self-
image (one based on a sense of moral adequacy). So repentance to God is

galling, a last resort.
Child: Admitting failure strengthens ones self-image (reminding you that you
are forgiven and loved despite your flaws.) Repentance is now based not on
fear of being rejected, but on grief that you have dishonored/grieved the One
who suffered so that you would never be rejected. The grief that comes from
wronging an unconditionally loving parent is sharper, yet much more filled with
hope than the fear that comes from wronging a god you simply fear. The
repentance of a slave is rare, forced, traumatic, and produces little long-term
change. Repentance of a child is regular, willing, with much sweetness mixed
with the grief, and leads to permanent change.
DISCUSSION
1. What helped you most? What questions did it raise?
2. Look at the list of child vs. slave characteristics. Where do you need the
most work right now?
3. Share a situationpast, present, or futurewhere the slave mentality is a

particular problem for you.
94
Galatians
Gospel Character
In the first half of chapter 5, Paul shows that Christian freedom gives us a
whole new motivation for living. Some may say, If I thought I was accepted by
God no matter what I did, I would lose all incentive to lead a holy life. The
proper response is, If, when you lose all fear of rejection, you discover that you
have lost all incentive for holiness, then the only incentive you had was fear! In
most religion, the motivation for morality is fear-based. In gospel Christianity, the
motivation is a dynamic of love (5:6, 14). In this passage Paul spells out how we
grow in character through this new dynamic.

1. According to this passage, what are the two natures at work in every
Christian (vv. 16-18)?
2. What is the main way they influence us? What does the Christian truly want
and why?
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GOSPEL CHARACTER
3. What is set in opposition to the Spirit in verse 5:16? What is set in opposition
to it in verse 18? What does this tell us about how the sinful nature or
flesh actually operates?
4. In light of verse 5:18, what does it mean to crucify the sinful nature with its
over-desires? What does it mean to live or walk by the Spirit?
5. What common mistakes do people make about what it means to crucify the
flesh (vv. 24-25)?
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Study 11 | Gospel Character
GOSPEL CHARACTER
notes
6. Verses 5:19-21 break the works of the flesh into categories. What do you
learn about the human heart from the list? About yourself from the list?
7. Does the following statement make sense to you? (Why or why not?) Joyful
repentance for the residual self-righteousness under both our sins and our
good deeds is the secret of change.
97
Fruit of the Spirit

Study 11 | Exercise
Read and mark

PART A. INTRODUCTION TO THE FRUIT

Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is
freedom. And we who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lords glory, are being
transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the
Lord, who is the Spirit. (2 Cor. 3:17-18)
The purpose of the Spirit
The ultimate purpose of the Spirits operation in the Christian is to change us

into the likeness and character of Jesus Christ. (See Romans 8:29: he . . .
predestined us to be conformed to the likeness of his Son and Ephesians
4:13: until we all . . . become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the
fullness of Christ.) The ultimate goal is not some kind of general comfort,
strength, or power, but concrete, practical change in our characterhow we
think, feel, and act habitually and naturally.
The method of the Spirit
The (breathtaking) method of the Spirit is to show us the glory of Christ. The
complex verb Paul uses is katoptrizdomenoi, which means to behold in a
mirror. This word combines the ideas of (a) looking long and hard at something
and (b) resembling or reflecting something. We are called to (a) long,
contemplative gazing at the Lord Jesus, and (b) changing so as to reflect his
image. What a vivid picture! The more we contemplate Jesus, the more the
Spirit shows us his glory and we are transformed into the likeness of what we
see. What does it mean to see the glory of something? It means to realize in
your heart its importance, beauty, and value to you. The way the Spirit creates
character in you is to affect your heart and life by what you see in the person
and work of Christ.
The process of the Spirit
The Spirit does not create this Christ-like character in us all at once. We
change gradually, from one degree of likeness to the next. Therefore, our
sanctification is not a crisis as much as a process (though growth does
not happen evenly, but in spurts, like botanical growth).
The experience of the Spirit
This transforming process of the Spirit is experienced by the individual Christian

as freedom. This does not mean that there is no effort, pain, or hard
discipline involved, but that primarily and ultimately the development of Christ-
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Study 11 | Exercise
FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT
notes
like character is liberating. Growing in love, joy, peace, and self-control makes
you feel you are becoming yourself.
If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a
resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom
all mysteries and knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but
have not love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my
body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing. Love is patient, love is kind. It
does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud . . . rude . . .self-seeking . . . easily
angered . . . . (1 Cor.13:1-5)
The test of the Spirit
The Corinthians had miraculous gifts (prophecy), teaching gifts (can fathom
all mysteries and knowledge), vision and leadership gifts (faith that can move
mountains), social concern (give . . . to the poor), and a willingness to die
for the faith. Yet they were impatient, harsh, critical, rude, jealous, and
egocentric. Paul bluntly says that the gifts of the Spirit (skills, what we do) are
far less important than the fruit of the Spirit (character, what we are). He says
that the gifts of the Spirit are talents the Spirit uses to help others and get
things done, but it is possible to have the Spirit use you this way even when
you have little or even no grace in the heart (I am nothing). A gift-operation of
the Spirit may or may not operate out of a grace-changed heart. Saul and Judas
were used by the Spirit to prophesy, do miracles, and so on. Gifts can also
operate when our love, joy, and self-control are very low. But the fruit-growth of
the Spirit can only happen in a child of God. The only real evidence that the Spirit
has indwelled you as a child of God is your growth in the fruit of the Spirit.
Many ungodly men have had these gifts. Many will say to me in that [last] day,
Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name cast out devils?
and in thy name done many wonderful works? [Matt. 7:21] [Such as these have
had gifts of the Spirit, but no special and saving work of the Spirit.] Gifts of the
Spirit . . . are excellent things, but . . . they are not things that are inherent in the
nature . . . as true grace and holiness [the fruit] are. . . . [Gifts of the Spirit are] like
precious jewels with which the body may be adorned . . . But true grace is that
whereby the very soul itself becomes a precious jewel. . . . The Spirit of God may
produce effects in things in which he does not communicate himself to us. Thus
the Spirit of God moved on the face of the waters, but not so as to impart himself
to the waters. But when the Spirit, by his ordinary influences, bestows saving
grace, he therein imparts himself to the soul. . . . Yea, grace is, as it were, the holy
nature of the Spirit imparted to the soul. 1
Jonathan Edwards, Charity and Its Fruits, Sermon Two
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FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT
The dynamic of the Spirit
Pauls reference to gongs and cymbals probably refers to the pagan worship in
Corinth at the temples of Demeter and Cybele. Pagan worship was a way to
put on a show to merit and attract the gods favor. Paul indicates, then, that it is
possible to do Christian ministry in the same way. We can help others and do
lots of Christian activities as a way to convince ourselves and others (and God)
that we are something. This is a form of works-righteousness. When gifts
are used that way, there are telltale signs of impatience, irritability, pride, hurt
feelings, and jealousy. The fruit of the Spirit grows as we remember the gospel,
rejoice in our salvation, and use our gifts as a sacrifice of thanksgiving. As a
result, our helping others will be done in humility, love, patience, and
tenderness.
PART B. THE UNITY OF THE FRUIT

Love believes all things, hopes all things . . . (1 Cor. 13:7 KJV). The fruit of
the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
gentleness, and self-control (Gal. 5:22-23).
These two statements are remarkable. Though Paul talks of faith, hope, and
love in 1 Corinthians 13:13, in verse 7 he says that love has faith and has
hopethat is, if you have love, you will have faith and hope. In Galatians 5:22
he deliberately uses the singular word fruit to describe a whole list of
character traits. From this we learn a very important point for understanding
and discerning the fruit of the Spirit.
It means that the real fruits of the Spirit always grow together. When we look
at the list of traits in the fruit lists (1 Cor. 13:4-7; Gal. 5:22-23) we notice that
we are naturally stronger in some than in others. But our strengths, apart from
the Holy Spirit, are due to natural temperament (we have a trait through brain
chemistry and early training) or to natural self-interest (we learned a trait in
order to handle some issue or condition we met). For example, some people
are temperamentally gentle and diplomatic (gentleness). But the sign that
this is not due to the Holy Spirit is that such people are usually not bold or
courageous (faithfulness). Pauls words about the unity of the fruit means
that the gentleness is not real spiritual humility, but just temperamental
sweetness. John says, If anyone says, I love God, and hates his brother, he
is a liar (1 John 4:20). Notice that he does not say, If a man loves God but
doesnt love his brother, he is unbalanced. No, he says he is a liar. True love to
God (love) goes along with love to others (kindness). If they are not all
there, they are not there at all.
There are many, many such cases. Some folks seem happy and bubbly (joy)
and are good at meeting new people, but are very unreliable and cant keep
friends (faithfulness). That is not joy but extroversion. Some people seem
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Study 11 | Exercise
FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT
notes
unflappable and unbotheredpeacefulbut they are not kind or gentle.

That is not real peace but indifference and perhaps cynicism. It enables you to
get through the difficulties of life without being hurt, but it desensitizes you and
makes you much less approachable.
PART C. THE DEFINITIONS OF THE FRUIT

1. Agapelove
a. Definition: To serve people for their good and intrinsic value, not for
what they bring you.
b. Opposite: Fear; self-protection and abusing people.
c. Counterfeit: Selfish affection. Rescuing someone but really rescuing
yourself. Attracted not to a person, but to how the persons love
makes you feel about yourself.
2. Charajoy
a. Definition: Delight in God and his salvation for the sheer beauty and
worth of who he is.
b. Opposite: Hopelessness, despair.
c. Counterfeit: Elation that comes with blessings, not the Blesser. Mood
swings based on circumstances.
3. Irenepeace
a. Definition: Confidence and rest in the wisdom and sovereignty of God

more than your own.
b. Opposite: Anxiety and worry.
c. Counterfeit: Indifference, apathy, not caring about something.
I dont care.
4. Makrothumiapatience
a. Definition: Ability to take trouble (from others or life) without blowing

up; to suffer joyfully.
b. Opposite: Resentment toward God and others.
c. Counterfeit: Cynicism. Self-righteousness. This is too small to bother
about.
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notes
FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT
5. Chrestoteskindness
a. Definition: Practical kindness with vulnerability, out of deep inner

security.
b. Opposite: Envy; unable to rejoice in anothers joy.
c. Counterfeit: Manipulative good deeds. Right hand knowing what left
hand is doing. Self-congratulation and self-righteousness.
6. Agathosunegoodness (integrity)
a. Definition: Honesty, transparency. Being the same in one situation as

another.
b. Opposite: Phoniness; hypocrisy.
c. Counterfeit: Truth without love. Getting it off my chest for ones
own sake.
7. Pistisfaithfulness
a. Definition: Loyalty. Courage. To be principle-driven, committed, utterly

reliable. True to ones word.
b. Opposite: Opportunist. Fair-weather friend.
c. Counterfeit: Love without truth. Being loyal when you should be
willing to confront or challenge.
8. Prautasgentleness (humility)
a. Definition: Self-forgetfulness.
b. Opposite: Superiority; self-absorbed self-aggrandizement.
c. Counterfeit: Inferiority; self-absorbed self-consciousness.
9. Egkrateiaself-control
a. Definition: Ability to choose the urgent over the important thing.

b. Opposite: A driven, impulsive, uncontrolled person.
c. Counterfeit: Willpower through pride or more functional idols.
Conclusion
The purpose of this project is to show you that we are far more in need of
growth in the fruit of the Spirit than we thought. In Part A we saw that we tend
to look at our gifts as signs that we are Christlike, but that is an error. In Part B
we saw that we tend to look at our natural strengths as a sign that we are
Christlike. Though God makes the world a very good place because he gives so
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Study 11 | Exercise
FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT
notes
many people natural strengths, they are not the same as the fruit of the Spirit.
When we look at the nature, the unity, and the definitions of the fruit of the
Spirit, we have a much deeper sense of how we lack these things.
DISCUSSION
1. In which one or two have you been growing lately? Spend some time thanking
God for the growth.
2. In which one or two do you most need to grow right now?
1 Jonathan Edwards, Charity and Its Fruits, Sermon Two (London: Banner of Truth Trust, 1969), pp. 30,
35-36.
103
Galatians
Gospel Relationships
Study 12 | Galatians 5:26-6:5
This is a very short passage but it bristles with practical principles for relating to
others. The gospel creates a whole new self-image (5:26, 6:3-5) that is not based
on comparisons with others. Only the gospel makes us neither self-confident nor
self-disdaining, but both bold and humble. That works itself out in relationships
with everyone. Rather than comparing ourselves with those above or below
(5:26), we look only at our own responsibility to take what we have and are and
offer it to God, as sacrifices of gratitude for what Christ has done.
READ GALATIANS 5:26-6:5

1. Considering the context of 6:1-5, how would you define conceit? According to
verse 26, what are the two possible effects of conceit on relationships?
2. How could conceit and pride lead to both superiority and inferiority
complexes?
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notes
GOSPEL RELATIONSHIPS
3. Do you have more of a tendency to provoke or to envy in relationships?
How can you use the gospel to overcome your tendency, whatever it is?
4. Compare 6:2 with 5:13-14. Decide what the law of Christ is and what
bearing burdens is. How does bearing burdens help define our
relationship with others?
5. Read verses 6:2 and 6:5 and use the context to explain why they are not
contradictory. How does our view of ourselves (vv. 3-5) influence the way we
treat others (v. 2)?
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Study 12 | Gospel Relationships
notes
6. What principles does Paul lay down in 6:1? How does verse 2 shed light on
verse 1?
7. Make a list of reasons why Christians do so poorly at both 6:2 and 6:1
relationships.
How well do you think your small group or church community pursues the
restoration of 6:1?
What could you do practically to do better at 6:2? At 6:1?
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Gospel Relationships
Study 12 | Exercise
Read and mark

A. SELF-VIEW AND OTHERS-VIEW

The gospel creates a whole new self-image (Gal. 5:26, 6:3-5) that is not based
on comparisons with others. Only the gospel makes us neither self-confident
nor self-disdaining, but both bold and humble. Because of the gospel, we do
not earn our worth through approval from people or through power over people.
We are neither over-dependent on others nor afraid of commitment and
vulnerability. That works itself out in relationships with everyone.
The gospel is the only thing that addresses conceit or vain-glory. To the
degree that I am still functionally earning my worth through performance (that
is, to the degree I am still functioning in works righteousness), to that degree I
will be either operating out of superiority or inferiority. Why? Because if I am
saved by my works, I can either be confident but not humble (if I am living up
to my standards) or humble but not confident (if I am not living up to them). In
other words, apart from the gospel I will be forced to be superior or inferior or
to swing back and forth or to be one way with some people and another way
with others. I am continually caught between these two postures because of
the source of my self-image.
But the gospel creates a new self-image, as we have seen. It humbles me
before anyone, telling me I am a sinner saved only by grace. But it also
emboldens me before anyone, telling me I am loved and honored by the only
eyes in the universe that really count. So the gospel gives a boldness and a
humility that do not eat each other up but can increase together.
B. THE TWO THIEVES AND RELATIONSHIPS

We have seen previously that there are two equal and opposite errors that
oppose the gospel: legalism and antinomianism, which we can call here
moralism and hedonism.
Legalism
Antinomianism
Salvation through self-denial

Emphasis on doing duties
You are a sinner thus not acceptable
Truth more important than love
Moralism: do what is right
Salvation through self-discovery

Emphasis on fulfilling needs
You are acceptable thus not a sinner
Love more important than truth
Hedonism: do what makes you happy
How does the gospel provide a third way in relationships?
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Study 12 | Exercise
notes
Moralism often makes relationships into a blame game. Why? The moralist is
very consciously trying to earn salvation through performance, and that includes
relationships. Moralists must maintain their self-image of being a good
person. Some moralists do so by laying the blame on others, by being very
judgmental, and by always insisting that they are in the right. There is a lack of
teachability, humble admission of error, or listening. But moralists can also play
the blame game by laying the blame on themselves. Moralists can earn their
salvation and convince themselves that they are worthy persons by being very
willing to help others. This kind of self-salvation makes the moralist appear very
open to listen, very humble, and very teachable. But this can be co-dependency,
a form of self-salvation based on a deep need for peoples approval or a deep
need for people to need you (that is, saving yourself by saving others). Thus
moralism operates by either blaming others or blaming oneself. Either way, it
makes relationships torturous.
Hedonism reduces relationships to a negotiated partnership for mutual benefit.
It says, A relationship is fine as long as both people are helping the other
reach their goals. But as soon as a relationship entails major sacrifice, the
hedonist labels it dysfunctional and bails out. (There are dysfunctional
relationships, but only when the sacrifice is made out of needy selfishness,
not out of fullness of love.) So the hedonist only relates to another as long as
it doesnt cost anything.
Thus the choice (without the gospel) is to selfishly use others (hedonism) or to
selfishly let yourself be used by others (moralism). The gospel leads us to do
neither. We do sacrifice and commit, but not to convince ourselves or others
that we are acceptable. So we can love the person enough to confront, yet stay
with the person when it does not benefit us.
C. KINDS OF RELATIONSHIPS
1. The gospel and family relationships
Moralism can make you a slave to parental expectations in two ways. You can
be (a) so bound to please them that you cant live without continually thinking
of them, or (b) so angry at them for their control or neglect of your life that you
cannot live without continually thinking of them. To be constantly living in action
or reaction to them means that you are still a slave to their view of you. You are
haunted by it either way. Hedonism, however, sees no need for family loyalty or
the keeping of promises and covenants if the parents do not meet my
needs.
The gospel frees you from making parental approval an absolute or
psychological salvation, since God becomes the ultimate father. Then you will
neither be too dependent on nor hostile to your parents.
108
notes
2. The gospel and sexual relationships
The moralist tends to see sex as dirty or at least as a dangerous impulse that
leads constantly to sin. There will be an approach-avoidance relationship with
sex. The uneasy conscience of the moralist will lead either to a complete
avoidance or to a very driven, breathless need for sexual experience. Both
come from a glory-vacuum within, which makes sex a way to fill the
emptiness. Hedonists see sex merely as a biological and physical appetite, so
they may be less convoluted and troubled about it. However, they have also
given up on the deep longing of their hearts to have sexual union with
someone who is completely, unconditionally, and permanently true to them.
The gospel shows us that sexuality is meant to reflect the self-giving of Christ.
He gave himself completely, without conditions. So we are not to seek sexual
intimacy while we hold back control of our lives. If we give ourselves sexually,
we are to give ourselves legally, socially, personallyutterly. Sex is only meant
to take place in a totally committed, permanent relationship of marriage. As
Christ transforms us, that ideal is somewhat realizable even between two
sinners.
3. The gospel and other relationships
To other races and cultures. The liberal (hedonist) approach is to relativize all
cultures. (We can all get along because there is no truth.) Conservatives
(moralists) believe there is truth for the evaluation of cultures, so they choose
one culture as superior and then idolize it, feeling superior to others in the
impulse of self-justifying pride. The gospel leads us to be (a) on the one hand,
somewhat critical of all cultures, including our own (since there is truth), but
(b) on the other hand, morally superior to no one. After all, we are saved by
grace alone. Christians will exhibit moral conviction with humility and cultural
flexibility.
To non-Christians. The liberal/hedonist approach is to deny the legitimacy of
evangelism altogether. The conservative/moralist person believes in
proselytizing because we are right and they are wrong. Such proselytizing is
almost always offensive. But the gospel produces a constellation of traits in us.
(a) First, we are compelled to share the gospel out of generosity and love, not
guilt. (b) Second, we are freed from fear of ridicule and hurt by others since
we already have the favor of God by grace. (c) Third, there is a humility in our
dealings with others because we know we are saved by grace alone, not
because of our superior insight or character. (d) Fourth, we are hopeful about
anyone, even the hard cases, because we were saved only because of
grace, not because we were likely people to become Christians. (e) Fifth, we
are courteous and careful with people. We dont have to push or coerce them,
for it is only Gods grace that opens hearts, not our eloquence or persistence or
even their openness. All these traits create a winsome evangelist and an
excellent neighbor in a multi-cultural society.
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Study 12 | Exercise
notes
To human authority. Moralists will tend to obey human authorities (family, tribe,
government, cultural customs) too much, since they rely so heavily on their
self-image of being moral and decent. Hedonists will either obey human
authority too much (since they have no higher authority by which to judge their
culture) or too little (since they may only obey when they know they wont get
caught). That means either authoritarianism or anarchy. The gospel gives you a
standard by which to oppose human authority (if it contradicts the gospel), but
also the incentive to obey the civil authorities from the heart, even when you
could get away with disobedience.
Conclusion
Outside the gospel we are either confident (if achieving) or humble (if failing),
but in the gospel our new self-image produces a bold humility that changes all
relationships.
Without the gospel, your self-image is based on living up to some standards
your own or someone elses imposed upon you. If you live up to those
standards, you will be confident but not humble. If you dont live up to them,
you will be humble but not confident. Only in the gospel can you be
enormously bold and utterly sensitive and humble, for you are both perfect and
a sinner! Paul shows us that this new, unique self-image changes all
relationships. [Dont] become conceited, provoking and envying each other
(Gal. 5:26). Because we are humbled by the gospel, we dont provoke or
approach anyone with a sense of superiority. Because we are powerfully loved
in the gospel, we dont envy or approach anyone with a sense of inferiority.
The gospel keeps us from being either co-dependent on or independent of
people. Both approaches are essentially selfish ways to earn our value through
relationships. Now we dont need to have people serve our needs, nor do we
need to serve theirs. We are free to sacrifice and commit but also to love the
person enough to confront.
Luther writes about this new self-image:
So now we may certainly think: Although I still sin, I dont despair, because Christ
lives, who is both my righteousness and my eternal life. In that righteousness I
have no sin, no fear, no guilty conscience, no fear of death. I am indeed a sinner in
this life of mine and in my own righteousness, but I have another life, another
righteousness above this life, which is in Christ, the Son of God, who knows no sin
or death, but is eternal righteousness and eternal life. 1
110
notes
DISCUSSION
1. What was most helpful to you personally?
2. What questions did it raise?
1 Martin Luther, Preface to Galatians, paraphrase by Timothy Keller.
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Study 12 | Exercise
Galatians
Sowing and Reaping

These final words of Paul may at first sight seem like a series of disconnected
statements, but Paul is actually issuing a final warning (verses 6-10) and a final
invitation (verses 11-18) to the Galatians to live by the gospel.

1. Based on the context of verses 6:4-7, why do you think Paul included verse 6?
Why did verse 6 lead Paul to write do not be deceived?
2. What is the principle in verses 6:7-8? How would you state the principle in your
own words? How can we observe it practically?
3. Based on the context, what do you think Paul meant by doing good (v. 9)?
Based on your own experience and observations, how do we reap from doing
good?
112
notes
SOWING AND REAPING
4. What do verses 6:12-13 reveal about the motives of Pauls opponents?

How does Paul use this to contrast the true gospel from religion?
5. Would you agree that verses 6:14-15 summarize everything Paul has been
saying in the letter? Why or why not?
6. What is the relationship of the rule to peace, mercy, and grace (v. 16)?
What do you think are the marks of Jesus? Do you have any?
113
Study 13 | Sowing and Reaping
Luther Revisited
Study 13
Read and mark

1. THESIS: The gospel offers not just forgiveness for our bad record,
but also complete acceptance through Christs perfect record.
CHRIST DID NOT ONLY DIE IN OUR PLACE BUT LIVED A PERFECT LIFE IN OUR
PLACE. THEREFORE WE DO NOT SIMPLY GET FORGIVENESS FOR OUR SINS FROM
CHRIST, BUT ALSO COMPLETE ACCEPTANCE. HIS PERFECT PAST RECORD NOW
(IN GODS SIGHT) BECOMES OURS.
Luther: It is an absolutely unique teaching in the world and again: So now we
may certainly think: Although I still sin, I dont despair, because Christ lives, who is
both my righteousness and my eternal life. In that righteousness I have no sin, no
fear, no guilty conscience, no fear of death. I am indeed a sinner in this life or mine
and in my own righteousness, but I have another life, another righteousness above
this life, which is in Christ, the Son of God, who knows no sin or death, but is
eternal righteousness and eternal life. 1 Some other religions teach that God will
forgive your failures to produce a good moral record. But no other religion claims
that God actually provides an absolutely perfect record to you, whereby he regards
you as absolutely holy and acceptable and flawless. Other religions say: You give
God a righteous record, then he will owe you. But the gospel says: God (through
Jesus Christ) gives you a perfect record, and then you owe him.
2. THESIS: There is no alternative to the gospel but works

righteousness. Both religion and irreligion are forms of it.
UN-RELIGIOUS PERSONS ARE STRUGGLING TO ACHIEVE A RIGHTEOUSNESS
THROUGH THEIR OWN EFFORTS, AND RELIGIOUS PERSONS ARE STRUGGLING TO
ACHIEVE A RIGHTEOUSNESS THROUGH THEIR OWN EFFORTS. FUNDAMENTALLY,
THEY ARE NO DIFFERENT.
Luther: Satan in paradise . . . persuaded our first parents that they might by their
own wisdom and power become like God. . . . Thereafter . . . [everyone] went his
own way . . . hoping without the aid of Christ and by his own works to redeem
himself from evils and sins. 2 Every person is seeking to achieve a sense of worth
and valuea righteousness (though seldom called that)through their striving
and efforts, because they have an innate sense of shame and guilt inherited from
their sin and the fall. Also: There is no middle ground between Christian
righteousness and works righteousness. There is no alternative to Christian
righteousness but works righteousness: if you do not build your confidence on the
work of Christ, you must build your confidence on your own work. 3 Anyone who
does not fully trust Christs righteousness for his or her sense of worth (your
confidence) and standing before God is necessarily seeking to achieve it through
worksrighteousness, whether that work is religious or not.
114
notes
LUTHER REVISITED
3. THESIS: All sin is ultimately rooted in idolatry caused by works

righteousness.
THE ULTIMATE REASON FOR ANY SIN IS THAT SOMETHING BESIDES CHRIST
IS FUNCTIONING AS AN ALTERNATIVE RIGHTEOUSNESS OR SOURCE OF
CONFIDENCE, AND IS THUS AN IDOL, A PSEUDO-SAVIOR THAT CREATES
INORDINATE DESIRES.
Luther: Preface to the Galatians: This rock [the doctrine of justification] was
shaken by Satan in paradise, when he persuaded our first parents that they might
by their own wisdom and power become like God . . . Thereafter the whole world
acted like a madman against this faith, inventing innumerable idols and religions
with which everyone . . . went his own way, hoping to placate a god or goddess . . .
by his own works; that is, hoping without the aid of Christ and by his own works to
redeem himself from evils and sins. All this is sufficiently evidenced in the doings
and writings of all nations. 4 Also, Luther: Those who . . . do not . . . trust in His
favor, grace, and good-will, but rather seek His favor in other things or in
themselves, do not keep this [First] Commandment [to have no other gods before
Him], and practice real idolatry, even if they were to do the works of all the other
Commandments . . . . 5 Any effort to earn our own salvation creates idols of
necessity. For if we make our career, our morality, or our marriage our fundamental
confidence in lifeour wisdom and powerthen those things become idols
we look to instead of Christ for our salvation. Thus, those keeping the other
nine commandments as a way to earn their own salvation are really breaking the
first commandment by and in their morality! Therefore, their good works are all
done in service to an idol as a way of avoiding Christ as Savior.
4. THESIS: All of life requires repentancenot primarily for sins,

but for our righteousness(es).
ANY FAILURE OF ACTUAL RIGHTEOUSNESS IS ALWAYS A FAILURE TO LIVE IN
ACCORDANCE WITH OUR IMPUTED RIGHTEOUSNESS. WE MAKE SOMETHING
BESIDES JESUS OUR REAL HOPE AND LIFE. BELIEVING THE GOSPEL MEANS
TO REPENT, NOT JUST OF OUR SINS, BUT OF THE PARTICULAR (SELF)
RIGHTEOUSNESS(ES) UNDERLYING OUR BEHAVIOR. THAT IS THE SECRET
TO CHANGE.
Luther: Preface to Galatians: When . . . the law . . . creeps into thy conscience
[learn to use arguments of the gospel against it.] Say: O law! . . . Trouble me not in
these matters! For I will not [allow you] . . . to reign in my conscience, for it is the
seat and temple of Christ the Son of God, who is the king of righteousness and
peace, and my most sweet savior and mediator. [Then] he shall keep my
conscience joyful and quiet in the sound and pure doctrine of the Gospel and in the
115
LUTHER REVISITED
notes
knowledge of this passive and heavenly righteousness. 6 (He calls this an effort to
keep this [Christian] righteousness reigning in my heart. 7 (Irreligious people dont
repent at all and religious people repent only for their sins. But Christians repent of
their righteousness. That is what makes them become Christianswhen they
repent not just for being bad, but for having tried in so many ways to be good in
order to avoid relying on Christ alone for their hope, worth, and salvation.
Repentance is also what grows them into Christ-likeness. Every failure to live as
we shouldall temptation, fear, anger, or despondencymeans that something
besides Christ continues to be too important, to function as an idol, a means of
righteousness. Thus all growth takes place the way initial conversion did
through repentance for avoiding Christ as Savior.
5. THESIS: Gospel repentance creates a whole new motivation in

our relationship to God, to others, to ourselves, and to our life in
the world.
ONLY THROUGH THE GOSPEL IS THERE IS A NEW SENSE OF DELIGHT IN AND
SERVICE TO GOD FOR THE BEAUTY OF WHO HE IS IN HIMSELF, NOT FOR WHAT
HE GIVES US. THAT FREES US TO LOVE OTHERS AND DO GOOD DEEDS FOR THEIR
OWN SAKE, AND NOT FOR HOW THEY PROFIT US.
Luther: Preface to Galatians: Whoever he be that is assuredly persuaded that
Christ is his righteousness, does not only cheerfully and gladly work well in his
vocation, but also submits himself . . . to all manner of burdens and dangers of this
present life, because he knows that this is the will of God, and that this obedience
pleases him. 8 First, our work is transformed by the gospelit is done in
gladnessbecause our work and career are no longer the way we get our
confidence and power. When we relied on our work for a sense of importance
and worth, the work was really only about us. We didnt do it for the joy of doing it.
Second, our relationship to God is now not conditioned by how well our lives go. If
we only obey God in order to get a good life from him, then our relationship to him
goes up and down depending on our success, prosperity, and comfort. If things go
wrong, we reject God, which shows we are only using him to get our real gods.
But now the gospel brings stability and an unconditional desire to please him for his
own sake. Luther writes: No one should think we reject the importance of good
works or of obeying the Law. When we receive the Christian righteousness, we
consequently can live a good life, naturally, out of gratitude. If we try to earn our
righteousness by doing many good deeds, we actually do nothing. We neither
please God through our works righteousness nor do we honor the purpose for
which the law was given. 9 Good works done to get leverage over God are not
good at allthey are not done for him or for others, but for ourselves. They are
ways of controlling God and saving ourselves. Only when we admit that our good
works were not good can they become actually good and pleasing to God!
116
notes
LUTHER REVISITED
6. THESIS: The gospel is not only the way to enter the kingdom,
but it is also the way to solve every problem, face every challenge,
and grow up into Christ.
Luther: All kinds of temptations vex and oppress us on every side, [so that] this
doctrine can never be taught, urged, and repeated enough. If this doctrine be lost,
then is also the whole knowledge of truth, life and salvation lost and gone. If this
doctrine flourish, then all good things flourish . . . . 10 He also says that the gospel
is the way to face every trial and difficulty: This distinction is easy to be uttered in
words, but in use and experience it is very hard. [So you who would be teachers
and counselors of others] I admonish you [to] . . . exercise yourselves continually [in
these matters] by study, by reading, by meditation of the Word and by prayer, that
in the time of temptation you may be able to instruct and comfort both your own
consciences and others, and to bring them from the law to grace, from active and
working righteousness to the passive and received [Christs] righteousness. 11
Many people think that the gospel is the way to get saved and that we then
grow through trying very hard to live according to biblical principles. But Luther
shows us not only that initial salvation happens throughout the gospel, but that all
growth and sanctification happen only with constant revisitation and reorientation
to the gospel.
DISCUSSION
1. What did you notice this time that you didnt notice before?
2. What is the most helpful thing you read this time?
117
LUTHER REVISITED
notes
REVIEW OF GALATIANS
Galatians 1:1-6:18
1. Give a three- or four-word title to the Epistle to the Galatians. Put its argument
or thesis into one sentence.
2. Looking back over the epistle, what major lessons stand out to you?
3. Share one or two of your favorite verses from the book and explain why they
were so significant to you.
4. Share the most significant reflection or exercise and why it was so significant
to you.
118
notes
SOWING AND REAPING
Paraphrase of Martin Luthers Preface to Galatians by Timothy Keller, Section 4a and 4e.
Martin Luther, p. 16, Section 1a.
Paraphrase of Martin Luthers Preface to Galatians by Timothy Keller, Section 5a.
Martin Luther, p. 16, Section 1a.
Martin Luther, A Treatise Concerning Good Works, Sermon 1, Section X.
Martin Luther, Commentary on St. Pauls Epistle to the Galatians, p. 28, Section 5c.
Martin Luther, p. 28, Section 5d.
Martin Luther, p. 28, Section 5d.
Paraphrase of Martin Luthers Preface to Galatians by Timothy Keller, Section 4d.
10 Martin Luther, p. 21, Section 1b.

11 Martin Luther, p. 27.
119

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Redeemer

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Pauls letter to the

Living in-line with the truth of the gospel

Timothy Keller | Redeemer Presbyterian Church | 2010

Copyright Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church 2010.

How to use this material

commentary. I suggest John R. W. Stotts The Message of Galatians from The

Reading and Reflection: Luthers Preface to Galatians

Gospel Relationships; Galatians 5:26-6:5

Gospel Character; Galatians 5:16-25

Gospel Freedom; Galatians 5:1-15

Grace to the Barren; Galatians 4:21-31

Gospel-centered Ministry; Galatians 4:8-20

Children of God; Galatians 3:26-4:7

The Gospel and the Law; Galatians 3:15-25

The Gospel and Faith; Galatians 3:1-14

Living the Gospel; Galatians 2:11-21

Unity in the Gospel; Galatians 2:1-10

A Gospel-Changed Life; Galatians 1:10-24

The Uniqueness of the Gospel ; Galatians 1:1-9

Sowing and Reaping; Galatians 6:6-18

Copyright Timothy Keller, and Redeemer Presbyterian Church 2010

HISTORICAL SETTING OF THE LETTER TO THE GALATIANS

This letter addresses a social and racial division in the churches of

Although this specific controversy may seem remote to us today, Paul

THE ABIDING IMPORTANCE OF THE GOSPEL

Copyright Timothy Keller, and Redeemer Presbyterian Church 2010

What was most helpful to you in this brief background/overview? Why?

Copyright Timothy Keller, and Redeemer Presbyterian Church 2010

The Uniqueness of the Gospel

READ GALATIANS 1:1-9

Copyright Timothy Keller, and Redeemer Presbyterian Church 2010

THE UNIQUENESS OF THE GOSPEL

Study 1 | The Uniqueness of the Gospel

Copyright Timothy Keller, and Redeemer Presbyterian Church 2010

THE UNIQUENESS OF THE GOSPEL

Copyright Timothy Keller, and Redeemer Presbyterian Church 2010

Read and mark

! for something that helped you

1. The most important thing in the world

2. The need for Christian righteousness

This passive righteousness is a mystery the world cannot understand.

Study 1 | Reading and Reflection

Copyright Timothy Keller, and Redeemer Presbyterian Church 2010

MARTIN LUTHERS PREFACE TO GALATIANS

3. Law and grace

Copyright Timothy Keller, and Redeemer Presbyterian Church 2010

MARTIN LUTHERS PREFACE TO GALATIANS

4. Living the gospel

While we live here on earth, we will be accused, exercised with temptations,

Study 1 | Reading and Reflection

Copyright Timothy Keller, and Redeemer Presbyterian Church 2010

MARTIN LUTHERS PREFACE TO GALATIANS

2. What do we mean by passive righteousness?

3. Why is the difference between passive righteousness and active righteousness

Copyright Timothy Keller, and Redeemer Presbyterian Church 2010

MARTIN LUTHERS PREFACE TO GALATIANS

1 Martin Luther, Preface, Commentary on the Epistle to the Galatians, 1535.

Study 1 | Reading and Reflection

Copyright Timothy Keller, and Redeemer Presbyterian Church 2010

Galatians 1:10-2:21 is often called the autobiographical section of the epistle,

READ GALATIANS 1:10-24; ALSO READ ACTS 9:1-9